ACTIVE 

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!  BERKELEY 
.IBRARY 
INIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


ACTIVE    SERVICE. 


ACTIVE 
SERVICE 


H  move! 

BY 

STEPHEN     CRANE 

AUTHOR    OF     "THE    RED    BADGE    OF    COURAGE 
"GEORGE'S    MOTHER,"     ETC.,    ETC. 


NEW    YORK 
FREDERICK    A.    STOKES    COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


LOAN  STACK 


Copyright,    1899, 
By  Stephen   Crane 


Copyright , 
By  Frederick    A.   Stokes   Company 


ar 
fl 


To  E.  A. 


129 


ACTIVE  SERVICE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MARJORY  walked  pensively  along  the  hall.  In  the 
cool  shadows  made  by  the  palms  on  the  window  ledge, 
her  face  wore  the  expression  of  thoughtful  melancholy 
expected  on  the  faces  of  the  devotees  who  pace  in 
cloistered  gloom.  She  halted  before  a  door  at  the 
end  of  the  hall  and  laid  her  hand  on  the  knob.  She 
stood  hesitating,  her  head  bowed.  It  was  evident 
that  this  mission  was  to  require  great  fortitude. 

At  last  she  opened  the  door.  "  Father,"  she  began 
at  once.  There  was  disclosed  an  elderly,  narrow-faced 
man  seated  at  a  large  table  and  surrounded  by  manu 
scripts  and  books.  The  sunlight  flowing  through 
curtains  of  Turkey  red  fell  sanguinely  upon  the  bust 
of  dead-eyed  Pericles  on  the  mantle.  A  little  clock 
was  ticking,  hidden  somewhere  among  the  countless 
leaves  of  writing,  the  maps  and  broad  heavy  tomes 
that  swarmed  upon  the  table. 

Her  father  looked  up  quickly  with  an  ogreish  scowl. 
"  Go  away !  "  he  cried  in  a  rage.  "  Go  away.  Go 
away.  Get  out  !  "  He  seemed  on  the  point  of  arising 


2  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

to  eject  the  visitor.  It  was  plain  to  her  that  he  had 
been  interrupted  in  the  writing  of  one  of  his  sentences, 
ponderous,  solemn  and  endless,  in  which  wandered 
multitudes  of  homeless  and  friendless  prepositions, 
adjectives  looking  for  a  parent,  and  quarrelling  nouns, 
sentences  which  no  longer  symbolised  the  language- 
form  of  thought  but  which  had  about  them  a  quaint 
aroma  from  the  dens  of  long-dead  scholars.  "  Get 
out,"  snarled  the  professor. 

"  Father,"  faltered  the  girl.  Either  because  his 
formulated  thought  was  now  completely  knocked  out 
of  his  mind  by  his  own  emphasis  in  defending  it,  or 
because  he  detected  something  of  portent  in  her  ex 
pression,  his  manner  suddenly  changed,  and  with  a 
petulant  glance  at  his  writing  he  laid  down  his  pen 
and  sank  back  in  his  chair  to  listen.  "  Well,  what  is 
it,  my  child  ?  " 

The  girl  took  a  chair  near  the  window  and  gazed 
out  upon  the  snow-stricken  campus,  where  at  the 
moment  a  group  of  students  returning  from  a  class 
room  were  festively  hurling  snow-balls.  *'  I've  got 
something  important  to  tell  you,  father,"  said  she, 
"  but  I  don't  quite  know  how  to  say  it." 

"Something  important?"  repeated  the  professor. 
He  was  not  habitually  interested  in  the  affairs  of  his 
family,  but  this  proclamation  that  something  import 
ant  could  be  connected  with  them,  rilled  his  mind  with 
a  capricious  interest.  "  Well,  what  is  it,  Marjory  ?  " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  3 

She  replied  calmly:  "  Rufus  Coleman  wants  to 
marry  me." 

"  What  ?  "  demanded  the  professor  loudly.  "  Rufus 
Coleman.  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

The  girl  glanced  furtively  at  him.  She  did  not 
seem  to  be  able  to  frame  a  suitable  sentence. 

As  for  the  professor,  he  had,  like  all  men  both 
thoughtless  and  thoughtful,  told  himself  that  one  day 
his  daughter  would  come  to  him  with  a  tale  of  this 
kind.  He  had  never  forgotten  that  the  little  girl  was 
to  be  a  woman,  and  he  had  never  forgotten  that  this 
tall,  lithe  creature,  the  present  Marjory,  was  a  woman. 
He  had  been  entranced  and  confident  or  entranced 
and  apprehensive  according  to  the  time.  A  man 
focussed  upon  astronomy,  the  pig  market  or  social 
progression,  may  nevertheless  have  a  secondary  mind 
which  hovers  like  a  spirit  over  his  dahlia  tubers  and 
dreams  upon  the  mystery  of  their  slow  and  tender 
revelations.  The  professor's  secondary  mind  had 
dwelt  always  with  his  daughter  and  watched  with  a 
faith  and  delight  the  changing  to  a  woman  of  a  certain 
fat  and  mumbling  babe.  However,  he  now  saw  this 
machine,  this  self-sustaining,  self-operative  love,  which 
had  run  with  the  ease  of  a  clock,  suddenly  crumble  to 
ashes  and  leave  the  mind  of  a  great  scholar  staring  at 
a  calamity.  "  Rufus  Coleman,"  he  repeated,  stunned. 
Here  was  his  daughter,  very  obviously  desirous  of 
marrying  Rufus  Coleman.  "  Marjory,"  he  cried  in 


4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

amazement  and  fear,  "  what  possesses  you  ?  Marry 
Rufus  Coleman  ?  " 

The  girl  seemed  to  feel  a  strong  sense  of  relief  at 

* 

his  prompt  recognition  of  a  fact.  Being  freed  from 
the  necessity  of  making  a  flat  declaration,  she  simply 
hung  her  head  and  blushed  impressively.  A  hush  fell 
upon  them.  The  professor  stared  long  at  his  daugh 
ter.  The  shadow  of  unhappiness  deepened  upon  his 
face.  "  Marjory,  Marjory,"  he  murmured  at  last. 
He  had  tramped  heroically  upon  his  panic  and 
devoted  his  strength  to  bringing  thought  into  some 
kind  of  attitude  toward  this  terrible  fact.  "  I  am — I 
am  surprised,"  he  began.  Fixing  her  then  with  a 
stern  eye,  he  asked  :  "  Why  do  you  wish  to  marry 
this  man?  You,  with  your  opportunities  of  meeting 
persons  of  intelligence.  And  you  want  to  marry — " 
His  voice  grew  tragic.  "  You  want  to  marry  the  Sun 
day  editor  of  the  New  York  Eclipse" 

"  It  is  not  so  very  terrible,  is  it  ?  "  said  Marjory 
sullenly. 

"  Wait  a  moment ;  don't  talk,"  cried  the  professor. 
He  arose  and  walked  nervously  to  and  fro,  his  hands 
flying  in  the  air.  He  was  very  red  behind  the  ears  as 
when  in  the  class-room  some  student  offended  him. 
"A  gambler,  a  sporter  of  fine  clothes,  an  expert  on 
champagne,  a  polite  loafer,  a  witness  knave  who  edits 
the  Sunday  edition  of  a  great  outrage  upon  our  sensi 
bilities.  You  want  to  marry  him,  this  man  ?  Mar- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  $ 

jory,  you  are  insane.  This  fraud  who  asserts  that  his 
work  is  intelligent,  this  fool  comes  here  to  my  house 
and—" 

He  became  aware  that  his  daughter  was  regarding 
him  coldly.  "  I  thought  we  had  best  have  all  this 
part  of  it  over  at  once,"  she  remarked. 

He  confronted  her  in  a  new  kind  of  surprise.  The 
little  keen-eyed  professor  was  at  this  time  imperial,  on 
the  verge  of  a  majestic  outburst.  "  Be  still,"  he  said. 
"  Don't  be  clever  with  your  father.  Don't  be  a 
dodger.  Or,  if  you  are,  don't  speak  of  it  to  me.  I 
suppose  this  fine  young  man  expects  to  see  me  per 
sonally  ?  " 

"  He  was  coming  to-morrow,"  replied  Marjory. 
She  began  to  weep.  "  He  was  coming  to-morrow." 

"  Um,"  said  the  professor.  He  continued  his  pac 
ing  while  Marjory  wept  with  her  head  bowed  to  the 
arm  of  the  chair.  His  brow  made  the  three  dark 
vertical  crevices  well  known  to  his  students.  Some 
times  he  glowered  murderously  at  the  photographs  of 
ancient  temples  which  adorned  the  walls.  "  My  poor 
child,"  he  said  once,  as  he  paused  near  her,  "  to 
think  I  never  knew  you  were  a  fool.  I  have  been 
deluding  myself.  It  has  been  my  fault  as  much  as 
it  has  been  yours.  I  will  not  readily  forgive  my 
self." 

The  girl  raised  her  face  and  looked  at  him. 
Finally,  resolved  to  disregard  the  dishevelment 


6  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

wrought  by  tears,  she  presented  a  desperate  front 
with  her  wet  eyes  and  flushed  cheeks.  Her  hair  was 
disarrayed.  "  I  don't  see  why  you  can  call  me  a 
fool,"  she  said.  The  pause  before  this  sentence  had 
been  so  portentous  of  a  wild  and  rebellious  speech 
that  the  professor  almost  laughed  now.  But  still  the 
father  for  the  first  time  knew  that  he  was  being  un 
dauntedly  faced  by  his  child  in  his  own  library,  in  the 
presence  of  372  pages  of  the  book  that  was  to  be  his 
masterpiece.  At  the  back  of  his  mind  he  felt  a  great 
awe  as  if  his  own  youthful  spirit  had  come  from  the 
past  and  challenged  him  with  a  glance.  Fora  moment 
he  was  almost  a  defeated  man.  He  dropped  into  a 
chair.  "  Does  your  mother  know  of  this  ?  "  he  asked 
mournfully. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  girl.  "She  knows.  She  has 
been  trying  to  make  me  give  up  Rufus." 

"  Rufus,"  cried  the  professor  rejuvenated  by  anger. 

"  Well,  his  name  is  Rufus,"  said  the  girl. 

"  But  please  don't  call  him  so  before  me,"  said  the 
father  with  icy  dignity.  "  I  do  not  recognise  him  as 
being  named  Rufus.  That  is  a  contention  of  yours 
which  does  not  arouse  my  interest.  I  know  him  very 
well  as  a  gambler  and  a  drunkard,  and  if  incidentally, 
he  is  named  Rufus,  I  fail  to  see  any  importance  to  it." 

"  He  is  not  a  gambler  and  he  is  not  a  drunkard," 
she  said. 

"  Um.     He   drinks  heavily — that   is    well    known. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  7 

He  gambles.     He  plays  cards  for  money — more   than 

he  possesses — at  least  he  did  when  he  was  in  college." 

"  You  said  you  liked  him  when  he  was  in  college." 

"  So  I  did.  So  I  did,"  answered  the  professor 
sharply.  "  I  often  find  myself  liking  that  kind  of  a 
boy  in  college.  Don't  I  know  them — those  lads 
with  their  beer  and  their  poker  games  in  the  dead  of 
the  night  with  a  towel  hung  over  the  keyhole.  Their 
habits  are  often  vicious  enough,  but  something 
remains  in  them  through  it  all  and  they  may  go  away 
and  do  great  things.  This  happens.  We  know  it.  It 
happens  with  confusing  insistence.  It  destroys  theo 
ries.  There — there  isn't  much  to  say  about  it.  And 
sometimes  we  like  this  kind  of  a  boy  better  than  we  do 
the — the  others.  For  my  part  I  know  of  many  a  pure, 
pious  and  fine-minded  student  that  I  have  positively 
loathed  from  a  personal  point-of-view.  But,"  he 
added,  "  this  Rufus  Coleman,  his  life  in  college  and 
his  life  since,  go  to  prove  how  often  we  get  off  the 
track.  There  is  no  gauge  of  collegiate  conduct  what 
ever,  until  we  can  get  evidence  of  the  man's  work  in 
the  world.  Your  precious  scoundrel's  evidence  is  now 
all  in  and  he  is  a  failure,  or  worse." 

"  You  are  not  habitually  so  fierce  in  judging 
people,"  said  the  girl. 

"  I  would  be  if  they  all  wanted  to  marry  my 
daughter,"  rejoined  the  professor.  "  Rather  than  let 
that  man  make  love  to  you — or  even  be  within  a 


8  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

short  railway  journey  of  you,  I'll  cart  you  off  to 
Europe  this  winter  and  keep  you  there  until  you 
forget.  If  you  persist  in  this  silly  fancy,  I  shall  at 
once  become  medieval." 

Marjory  had  evidently  recovered  much  of  her  com 
posure.  "  Yes,  father,  new  climates  are  always  sup 
posed  to  cure  one,"  she  remarked  with  a  kind  of 
lightness. 

"  It  isn't  so  much  the  old  expedient,"  said  the  pro 
fessor  musingly,  "  as  it  is  that  I  would  be  afraid  to 
leave  you  here  with  no  protection  against  that  drink 
ing  gambler  and  gambling  drunkard." 

"  Father,  I  have  to  ask  you  not  to  use  such  terms  in 
speaking  of  the  man  that  I  shall  marry." 

There  was  a  silence.  To  all  intents,  the  professor 
remained  unmoved.  He  smote  the  tips  of  his  fingers 
thoughtfully  together.  "Ye — es,"  he  observed. 
"  That  sounds  reasonable  from  your  standpoint." 
His  eyes  studied  her  face  in  a  long  and  steady  glance. 
He  arose  and  went  into  the  hall.  When  he  returned 
he  wore  his  hat  and  great  coat.  He  took  a  book  and 
some  papers  from  the  table  and  went  away. 

Marjory  walked  slowly  through  the  halls  and  up  to 
her  room.  From  a  window  she  could  see  her  father 
making  his  way  across  the  campus  labouriously  against 
the  wind  and  whirling  snow.  She  watched  it,  this 
little  black  figure,  bent  forward,  patient,  steadfast.  It 
was  an  inferior  fact  that  her  father  was  one  of  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  9 

famous  scholars  of  the  generation.  To  her,  he  was  now 
a  little  old  man  facing  the  wintry  winds.  Recollect 
ing  herself  and  Rufus  Coleman  she  began  to  weep 
again,  wailing  amid  the  ruins  of  her  tumbled  hopes. 
Her  skies  had  turned  to  paper  and  her  trees  were 
mere  bits  of  green  sponge.  But  amid  all  this  woe 
appeared  the  little  black  image  of  her  father  making 
its  way  against  the  storm. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IN  a  high-walled  corrider  of  one  of  the  college 
buildings,  a  crowd  of  students  waited  amid  jostlings 
and  a  loud  buzz  of  talk.  Suddenly  a  huge  pair  of 
doors  flew  open  and  a  wedge  of  young  men  inserted 
itself  boisterously  and  deeply  into  the  throng.  There 
was  a  great  scuffle  attended  by  a  general  banging  of 
books  upon  heads.  The  two  lower  classes  engaged 
in  herculean  play  while  members  of  the  two  higher 
classes,  standing  aloof,  devoted  themselves  strictly  to 
the  encouragement  of  whichever  party  for  a  moment 
lost  ground  or  heart.  This  was  in  order  to  prolong 
the  conflict. 

The  combat,  waged  in  the  desperation  of  proudest 
youth,  waxed  hot  and  hotter.  The  wedge  had  been 
instantly  smitten  into  a  kind  of  block  of  men.  It  had 
crumpled  into  an  irregular  square  and  on  three  sides 
it  was  now  assailed  with  remarkable  ferocity. 

It  was  a  matter  of  wall  meet  wall  in  terrific  rushes, 
during  which  lads  could  feel  their  very  hearts  leaving 
them  in  the  compress  of  friends  and  foes.  They  on 
the  outskirts  upheld  the  honour  of  their  classes  by 
squeezing  into  paper  thickness  the  lungs  of  those  of 
their  fellows  who  formed  the  centre  of  the  me1£e. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  n 

In  some  way  it  resembled  a  panic  at  a  theatre. 

The  first  lance-like  attack  of  the  Sophomores  had 
been  formidable,  but  the  Freshmen  outnumbering 
their  enemies  and  smarting  from  continual  Sopho- 
moric  oppression,  had  swarmed  to  the  front  like 
drilled  collegians  and  given  the  arrogant  foe  the  first 
serious  check  of  the  year.  Therefore  the  tall  Gothic 
windows  which  lined  one  side  of  the  corridor  looked 
down  upon  as  incomprehensible  and  enjoyable  a  tu 
mult  as  could  mark  the  steps  of  advanced  education. 
The  Seniors  and  Juniors  cheered  themselves  ill. 
Long  freed  from  the  joy  of  such  meetings,  their  only 
means  for  this  kind  of  recreation  was  to  involve  the 
lower  classes,  and  they  had  never  seen  the  victims  fall 
to  with  such  vigour  and  courage.  Bits  of  printed 
leaves,  torn  note-books,  dismantled  collars  and  cravats, 
all  floated  to  the  floor  beneath  the  feet  of  the  warring 
hordes.  There  were  no  blows  ;  it  was  a  battle  of 
pressure.  It  was  a  deadly  pushing  where  the  leaders 
on  either  side  often  suffered  the  most  cruel  and  sicken 
ing  agony  caught  thus  between  phalanxes  of  shoulders 
with  friend  as  well  as  foe  contributing  to  the  pain. 

Charge  after  charge  of  Freshmen  beat  upon  the  now 
compact  and  organised  Sophomores.  Then,  finally, 
the  rock  began  to  give  slow  way.  A  roar  came  from 
the  Freshmen  and  they  hurled  themselves  in  a  frenzy 
upon  their  betters. 

To  be  under  the  gaze  of  the  Juniors  and  Seniors  is 


12  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

to  be  in  sight  of  all  men,  and  so  the  Sophomores  at  this 
important  moment  laboured  with  the  desperation  of 
the  half-doomed  to  stem  the  terrible  Freshmen. 

In  the  kind  of  game,  it  was  the  time  when  bad 
tempers  came  strongly  to  the  front,  and  in  many 
Sophomores' minds  a  thought  arose  of  the  incompara 
ble  insolence  of  the  Freshmen.  A  blow  was  struck  ; 
an  infuriated  Sophomore  had  swung  an  arm  high  and 
smote  a  Freshman. 

Although  it  had  seemed  that  no  greater  noise  could 
be  made  by  the  given  numbers,  the  din  that  succeeded 
this  manifestation  surpassed  everything.  The  Juniors 
and  Seniors  immediately  set  up  an  angry  howl. 
These  veteran  classes  projected  themselves  into  the 
middle  of  the  fight,  buffeting  everybody  with  small 
thought  as  to  merit.  This  method  of  bringing 
peace  was  as  militant  as  a  landslide,  but  they  had 
much  trouble  before  they  could  separate  the  cen 
tral  clump  of  antagonists  into  its  parts.  A  score 
of  Freshmen  had  cried  out :  "  It  was  Coke.  Coke 
punched  him.  Coke."  A  dozen  of  them  were  tem 
pestuously  endeavouring  to  register  their  protest 
against  fisticuffs  by  means  of  an  introduction  of  more 
fisticuffs. 

The  upper  classmen  were  swift,  harsh  and  hard. 
"  Come,  now,  Freshies,  quit  it.  Get  back,  get  back, 
d'y'hear?"  With  a  wrench  of  muscles  they  forced 
themselves  in  front  of  Coke,  who  was  being  blindly 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  13 

defended  by   his   classmates     from  intensely    earnest 
attacks  by  outraged  Freshmen. 

These  meetings  between  the  lower  classes  at  the 
door  of  a  recitation  room  were  accounted  quite  com 
fortable  and  idle  affairs,  and  a  blow  delivered  openly 
and  in  hatred  fractured  a  sharply  defined  rule  of  con 
duct.  The  corridor  was  in  a  hubbub.  Many  Seniors 
and  Juniors,  bursting  from  old  and  iron  discipline, 
wildly  clamoured  that  some  Freshman  should  be  given 
the  privilege  of  a  single  encounter  with  Coke.  The 
Freshmen  themselves  were  frantic.  They  besieged  the 
tight  and  dauntless  circle  of  men  that  encompassed 
Coke.  None  dared  confront  the  Seniors  openly,  but 
by  headlong  rushes  at  auspicious  moments  they  tried 
to  come  to  quarters  with  the  rings  of  dark-browed 
Sophomores.  It  was  no  longer  a  festival,  a  game  ;  it 
was  a  riot.  Coke,  wild-eyed,  pallid  with  fury,  a  ribbon 
of  blood  on  his  chin,  swayed  in  the  middle  of  the  mob 
of  his  classmates,  comrades  who  waived  the  ethics  of 
the  blow  under  the  circumstance  of  being  obliged  as 
a  corps  to  stand  against  the  scorn  of  the  whole  college, 
as  well  as  against  the  tremendous  assaults  of  the  Fresh 
men.  Shamed  by  their  own  man,  but  knowing  full 
well  the  right  time  and  the  wrong  time  for  a  palaver 
of  regret  and  disavowal,  this  battalion  struggled  in 
the  desperation  of  despair.  Once  they  were  upon  the 
verge  of  making  unholy  campaign  against  the  interfer- 


14  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

ing  Seniors.  This  fiery  impertinence  was  the  meas 
ure  of  their  state. 

It  was  a  critical  moment  in  the  play  of  the  college. 
Four  or  five  defeats  from  the  Sophomores  during  the 
fall  had  taught  the  Freshmen  much.  They  had 
learned  the  comparative  measurements,  and  they  knew 
now  that  their  prowess  was  ripe  to  enable  them  to 
amply  revenge  what  was,  according  to  their  standards, 
an  execrable  deed  by  a  man  who  had  not  the  virtue 
to  play  the  rough  game,  but  was  obliged  to  resort  to 
uncommon  methods.  In  short,  the  Freshmen  were 
almost  out  of  control,  and  the  Sophomores  debased 
but  defiant,  were  quite  out  of  control.  The  Senior 
and  Junior  classes  which,  in  American  colleges  dictate 
in  these  affrays,  found  their  dignity  toppling,  and  in 
consequence  there  was  a  sudden  oncome  of  the  entire 
force  of  upper  classmen,  football  players  naturally  in 
advance.  All  distinctions  were  dissolved  at  once  in  a 
general  fracas.  The  stiff  and  still  Gothic  windows 
surveyed  a  scene  of  dire  carnage. 

Suddenly  a  voice  rang  brazenly  through  the  tumult. 
It  was  not  loud,  but  it  was  different.  "  Gentlemen  ! 
Gentlemen  !  "  Instantly  there  was  a  remarkable  num 
ber  of  haltings,  abrupt  replacements,  quick  changes. 
Prof.  Wainwright  stood  at  the  door  of  his  recitation 
room,  looking  into  the  eyes  of  each  member  of  the 
mob  of  three  hundred.  "  Ssh  !  "  said  the  mob.  "  Ssh  ! 
Quit!  Stop!  It's  the  Embassador!  Stop!'*  He 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  15 

had  once  been  minister  to  Austro-Hungary,  and  for 
ever  now  to  the  students  of  the  college  his  name  was 
Embassador.  He  stepped  into  the  corridor,  and  they 
cleared  for  him  a  little  respectful  zone  of  floor.  He 
looked  about  him  coldly.  "  It  seems  quite  a  general 
dishevelment.  The  Sophomores  display  an  energy  in 
the  halls  which  I  do  not  detect  in  the  class  room." 
A  feeble  murmur  of  appreciation  arose  from  the 
outskirts  of  the  throng.  While  he  had  been  speak 
ing  several  remote  groups  of  battling  men  had  been 
violently  signaled  and  suppressed  by  other  students. 
The  professor  gazed  into  terraces  of  faces  that  were 
still  inflamed.  "  I  needn't  say  that  I  am  surprised," 
he  remarked  in  the  accepted  rhetoric  of  his  kind.  He 
added  musingly  :  "  There  seems  to  be  a  great  deal  of 
torn  linen.  Who  is  the  young  gentleman  with  blood 
on  his  chin?  " 

The  throng  moved  restlessly.  A  manful  silence, 
such  as  might  be  in  the  tombs  of  stern  and  honourable 
knights,  fell  upon  the  shadowed  corridor.  The  sub 
dued  rustling  had  fainted  to  nothing.  Then  out  of 
the  crowd  Coke,  pale  and  desperate,  delivered  himself. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Coke,"  said  the  professor,  "I  would  be 
glad  if  you  would  tell  the  gentlemen  they  may  retire 
to  their  dormitories."  He  waited  while  the  students 
passed  out  to  the  campus. 

The  professor  returned  to  his  room  for  some  books, 
and  then  began  his  own  march  across  the  snowy 


16  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

campus.  The  wind  twisted  his  coat-tails  fantastically, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  keep  one  hand  firmly  on  the 
top  of  his  hat.  When  he  arrived  home  he  met  his 
wife  in  the  hall.  "  Look  here,  Mary,"  he  cried.  She 
followed  him  into  the  library.  "  Look  here,"  he  said. 
"  What  is  this  all  about  ?  Marjory  tells  me  she  wants 
to  marry  Rufus  Coleman." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  was  a  fat  woman  who  was  said  to 
pride  herself  upon  being  very  wise  and  if  necessary, 
sly.  In  addition  she  laughed  continually  in  an  inex 
plicably  personal  way,  which  apparently  made  every 
body  who  heard  her  feel  offended.  Mrs.  Wainwright 
laughed. 

"  Well,"  said  the  professor,  bristling,  "  what  do  you 
mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Harris,"  she  replied.     "  Oh,  Harris." 
The  professor  straightened  in  his  chair.     "  I  do  not 
see  any  illumination    in  those  remarks,  Mary.     I  un 
derstand  from  Marjory's  manner  that  she  is  bent  upon 
marrying  Rufus  Coleman.     She  said  you  knew  of  it." 

"  Why,  of  course  I  knew.     It  was  as  plain " 

"  Plain  !  "  scoffed  the  professor.     "  Plain  !  " 
"  Why,    of    course,"    she   cried.      "  I    knew    it   all 
along." 

There  was  nothing  in  her  tone  which  proved  that 
she  admired  the  event  itself.  She  was  evidently 
carried  away  by  the  triumph  of  her  penetration.  "  I 
knew  it  all  along,"  she  added,  nodding. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  17 

The  professor  looked  at  her  affectionately.  "You 
knew  it  all  along,  then,  Mary  ?  Why  didn't  you  tell 
me,  dear?" 

"  Because  you  ought  to  have  known  it,"  she  an 
swered  blatantly. 

The  professor  was  glaring.  Finally  he  spoke  in 
tones  of  grim  reproach.  "  Mary,  whenever  you  happen 
to  know  anything,  dear,  it  seems  only  a  matter  of  par 
tial  recompense  that  you  should  tell  me." 

The  wife  had  been  taught  in  a  terrible  school  that 
she  should  never  invent  any  inexpensive  retorts  con- 
cerning  bookworms  and  so  she  yawed  at  once. 
14  Really,  Harris.  Really,  I  didn't  suppose  the  affair 
was  serious.  You  could  have  knocked  me  down  with 
a  feather.  Of  course  he  has  been  here  very  often,  but 
then  Marjory  gets  a  great  deal  of  attention.  A  great 
deal  of  attention." 

The  professor  had  been  thinking.  "  Rather  than 
let  my  girl  marry  that  scalawag,  I'll  take  you  and  her 
to  Greece  this  winter  with  the  class.  Separation.  It 
is  a  sure  cure  that  has  the  sanction  of  antiquity." 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright,  "you  know  best, 
Harris.  You  know  best."  It  was  a  common  remark 
with  her,  and  it  probably  meant  either  approbation  or 
disapprobation  if  it  did  not  mean  simple  discretion. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THERE  had  been  a  babe  with  no  arms  born  in  one 
of  the  western  counties  of  Massachusetts.  In  place 
of  upper  limbs  the  child  had  growing  from  its  chest  a 
pair  of  fin-like  hands,  mere  bits  of  skin-covered  bone. 
Furthermore,  it  had  only  one  eye.  This  phenomenon 
lived  four  days,  but  the  news  of  the  birth  had  travelled 
up  this  country  road  and  through  that  village  until  it 
reached  the  ears  of  the  editor  of  the  Michaelstown 
Tribune.  He  was  also  a  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Eclipse.  On  the  third  day  he  appeared  at  the 
home  of  the  parents  accompanied  by  a  photographer. 
While  the  latter  arranged  his  instrument,  the  corre 
spondent  talked  to  the  father  and  mother,  two  cow- 
eyed  and  yellow-faced  people  who  seemed  to  suffer  a 
primitive  fright  of  the  strangers.  Afterwards  as  the 
correspondent  and  the  photographer  were  climbing 
into  their  buggy,  the  mother  crept  furtively  down  to 
the  gate  and  asked,  in  a  foreigner's  dialect,  if  they 
would  send  her  a  copy  of  the  photograph.  The  cor 
respondent  carelessly  indulgent,  promised  it.  As  the 
buggy  swung  away,  the  father  came  from  behind  an 
apple  tree,  and  the  two  semi-humans  watched  it  with 
its  burden  of  glorious  strangers  until  it  rumbled  across 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  19 

the  bridge  and  disappeared.  The  correspondent  was 
elate  ;  he  told  the  photographer  that  the  Eclipse  would 
probably  pay  fifty  dollars  for  the  article  and  the  pho 
tograph. 

The  office  of  the  New  York  Eclipse  was  at  the  top 
of  the  immense  building  on  Broadway.  It  was  a 
sheer  mountain  to  the  heights  of  which  the  intermina 
ble  thunder  of  the  streets  arose  faintly.  The  Hudson 
was  a  broad  path  of  silver  in  the  distance.  Its  edge 
was  marked  by  the  tracery  of  sailing  ships'  rigging 
and  by  the  huge  and  many-coloured  stacks  of  ocean  lin 
ers.  At  the  foot  of  the  cliff  lay  City  Hall  Park.  It 
seemed  no  larger  than  a  quilt.  The  grey  walks  pat 
terned  the  snow-covering  into  triangles  and  ovals  and 
upon  them  many  tiny  people  scurried  here  and  there, 
without  sound,  like  a  fish  at  the  bottom  of  a  pool.  It 
was  only  the  vehicles  that  sent  high,  unmistakable, 
the  deep  bass  of  their  movement.  And  yet  after  lis 
tening  one  seemed  to  hear  a  singular  murmurous  note, 
a  pulsation,  as  if  the  crowd  made  noise  by  its  mere 
living,  a  mellow  hum  of  the  eternal  strife.  Then  sud 
denly  out  of  the  deeps  might  ring  a  human  voice,  a 
newsboy  shout  perhaps,  the  cry  of  a  faraway  jackal  at 
night. 

From  the  level  of  the  ordinary  roofs,  combined  in 
many  plateaus,  dotted  with  short  iron  chimneys  from 
which  curled  wisps  of  steam,  arose  other  mountains 
like  the  Eclipse  Building.  They  were  great  peaks, 


20  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

ornate,  glittering  with  paint  or  polish.  Northward 
they  subsided  to  sun-crowned  ranges. 

From  some  of  the  windows  of  the  Eclipse  office 
dropped  the  walls  of  a  terrible  chasm  in  the  darkness 
of  which  could  be  seen  vague  struggling  figures. 
Looking  down  into  this  appalling  crevice  one  dis 
covered  only  the  tops  of  hats  and  knees  which  in 
spasmodic  jerks  seemed  to  touch  the  rims  of  the  hats. 
The  scene  represented  some  weird  fight  or  dance  or 
carouse.  It  was  not  an  exhibition  of  men  hurrying 
along  a  narrow  street. 

It  was  good  to  turn  one's  eyes  from  that  place  to 
the  vista  of  the  city's  splendid  reaches,  with  spire  and 
spar  shining  in  the  clear  atmosphere  and  the  marvel 
of  the  Jersey  shore,  pearl-misted  or  brilliant  with 
detail.  From  this  height  the  sweep  of  a  snow-storm 
was  defined  and  majestic.  Even  a  slight  summer 
shower,  with  swords  of  lurid  yellow  sunlight  piercing 
its  edges  as  if  warriors  were  contesting  every  foot  of 
its  advance,  was  from  the  Eclipse  office  something  so 
inspiring  that  the  chance  pilgrim  felt  a  sense  of  exult 
ation  as  if  from  this  peak  he  was  surveying  the  world 
wide  war  of  the  elements  and  life.  The  staff  of  the 
Eclipse  usually  worked  without  coats  and  amid  the 
smoke  from  pipes. 

To  one  of  the  editorial  chambers  came  a  photograph 
and  an  article  from  Michaelstown,  Massachusetts.  A 
boy  placed  the  packet  and  many  others  upon  the  desk 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  21 

of  a  young  man  who  was  standing  before  a  window 
and  thoughtfully  drumming  upon  the  pane.  He 
turned  at  the  thudding  of  the  packets  upon  his  desk. 
"  Blast  you,"  he  remarked  amiably.  "  Oh,  I  guess  it 
won't  hurt  you  to  work,"  answered  the  boy,  grinning 
with  a  comrade's  insolence.  Baker,  an  assistant  editor 
for  the  Sunday  paper,  took  seat  at  his  desk  and  began 
the  task  of  examining  the  packets.  His  face  could 
not  display  any  particular  interest  because  he  had 
been  at  the  same  work  for  nearly  a  fortnight. 

The  first  long  envelope  he  opened  was  from  a  wo 
man.  There  was  a  neat  little  manuscript  accompanied 
by  a  letter  which  explained  that  the  writer  was  a 
widow  who  was  trying  to  make  her  living  by  her  pen 
and  who,  further,  hoped  that  the  generosity  of  the 
editor  of  the  Eclipse  would  lead  him  to  give  her  article 
the  opportunity  which  she  was  sure  it  deserved.  She 
hoped  that  the  editor  would  pay  her  as  well  as  pos 
sible  for  it,  as  she  needed  the  money  greatly.  She 
added  that  her  brother  was  a  reporter  on  the  Little 
Rock  Sentinel  and  he  had  declared  that  her  literary 
style  was  excellent. 

Baker  really  did  not  read  this  note.  His  vast  experi 
ence  of  a  fortnight  had  enabled  him  to  detect  its  kind  in 
two  glances.  He  unfolded  the  manuscript,  looked  at 
it  woodenly  and  then  tossed  it  with  the  letter  to  the 
top  of  his  desk,  where  it  lay  with  the  other  corpses. 
None  could  think  of  widows  in  Arkansas,  ambitious 


22  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

from  the  praise  of  the  reporter  on  the  Little  Rock 
Sentinel,  waiting  for  a  crown  of  literary  glory  and 
money.  In  the  next  envelope  a  man  using  the 
note-paper  of  a  Boston  journal  begged  to  know  if  the 
accompanying  article  would  be  acceptable  ;  if  not  it 
was  to  be  kindly  returned  in  the  enclosed  stamped 
envelope.  It  was  a  humourous  essay  on  trolley  cars. 
Adventuring  through  the  odd  scraps  that  were  come 
to  the  great  mill,  Baker  paused  occasionally  to  relight 
his  pipe. 

As  he  went  through  envelope  after  envelope,  the 
desks  about  him  gradually  were  occupied  by  young 
men  who  entered  from  the  hall  with  their  faces  still 
red  from  the  cold  of  the  streets.  For  the  most  part 
they  bore  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  the  American 
college.  They  had  that  confident  poise  which  is 
easily  brought  from  the  athletic  field.  Moreover, 
their  clothes  were  quite  in  the  way  of  being  of  the 
newest  fashion.  There  was  an  air  of  precision  about 
their  cravats  and  linen.  But  on  the  other  hand  there 
might  be  with  them  some  indifferent  westerner  who 
was  obliged  to  resort  to  irregular  means  and  harangue 
startled  shop-keepers  in  order  to  provide  himself  with 
collars  of  a  strange  kind.  He  was  usually  very  quick 
and  brave  of  eye  and  noted  for  his  inability  to  per 
ceive  a  distinction  between  his  own  habit  and  the 
habit  of  others,  his  western  character  preserving  itself 
inviolate  amid  a  confusion  of  manners. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  23 

The  men,  coming  one  and  one,  or  two  and  two, 
flung  badinage  to  all  corners  of  the  room.  After 
ward,  as  they  wheeled  from  time  to  time  in  their 
chairs,  they  bitterly  insulted  each  other  with  the 
utmost  good-nature,  taking  unerring  aim  at  faults  and 
riddling  personalities  with  the  quaint  and  cynical  hu 
mour  of  a  newspaper  office.  Throughout  this  banter, 
it  was  strange  to  note  how  infrequently  the  men 
smiled,  particularly  when  directly  engaged  in  an  en 
counter. 

A  wide  door  opened  into  another  apartment  where 
were  many  little  slanted  tables,  each  under  an  electric 
globe  with  a  green  shade.  Here  a  curly-headed  scoun 
drel  with  a  corncob  pipe  was  hurling  paper  balls  the 
size  of  apples  at  the  head  of  an  industrious  man  who, 
under  these  difficulties,  was  trying  to  draw  a  picture 
of  an  awful  wreck  with  ghastly-faced  sailors  frozen  in 
the  rigging.  Near  this  pair  a  lady  was  challenging  a 
German  artist  who  resembled  Napoleon  III.  with  hav 
ing  been  publicly  drunk  at  a  music  hall  on  the  previous 
night.  Next  to  the  great  gloomy  corridor  of  this 
sixteenth  floor  was  a  little  office  presided  over  by  an 
austere  boy,  and  here  waited  in  enforced  patience  a 
little  dismal  band  of  people  who  wanted  to  see  the 
Sunday  editor. 

Baker  took  a  manuscript  and  after  glancing  about 
the  room,  walked  over  to  a  man  at  another  desk, 
"  Here  is  something  that  I  think  might  do,"  he  said. 


24  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  man  at  the  desk  read  the  first  two  pages.  "  But 
where  is  the  photogragh  ?  "  he  asked  then.  "  There 
should  be  a  photograph  with  this  thingo" 

"  Oh,  I  forgot,"  said  Baker.  He  brought  from  his 
desk  a  photograph  of  the  babe  that  had  been  born 
lacking  arms  and  one  eye.  Baker's  superior  braced  a 
knee  against  his  desk  and  settled  back  to  a  judicial 
attitude.  He  took  the  photograph  and  looked  at  it 
impassively.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  after  a  time,  "  that's  a 
pretty  good  thing.  You  better  show  that  to  Coleman 
when  he  comes  in." 

In  the  little  office  where  the  dismal  band  waited, 
there  had  been  a  sharp  hopeful  stir  when  Rufus  Cole 
man,  the  Sunday  editor,  passed  rapidly  from  door  to 
door  and  vanished  within  the  holy  precincts.  It  had 
evidently  been  in  the  minds  of  some  to  accost  him 
then,  but  his  eyes  did  not  turn  once  in  their  direction. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  not  seen  them.  Many  experiences 
had  taught  him  that  the  proper  manner  of  passing 
through  this  office  was  at  a  blind  gallop. 

The  dismal  band  turned  then  upon  the  austere 
office  boy.  Some  demanded  with  terrible  dignity 
that  he  should  take  in  their  cards  at  once.  Others 
sought  to  ingratiate  themselves  by  smiles  of  tender 
friendliness.  He  for  his  part  employed  what  we  would 
have  called  his  knowledge  of  men  and  women  upon 
the  group,  and  in  consequence  blundered  and  bungled 
vividly,  freezing  with  a  glance  an  annoyed  and  im- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  25 

portunate  Arctic  explorer  who  was  come  to  talk  of 
illustrations  for  an  article  that  had  been  lavishly  paid 
for  in  advance.  The  hero  might  have  thought  he  was 
again  in  the  northern  seas.  At  the  next  moment  the 
boy  was  treating  almost  courteously  a  German  from 
the  east  side  who  wanted  the  Eclipse  to  print  a  grand 
full  page  advertising  description  of  his  invention,  a 
gun  which  was  supposed  to  have  a  range  of  forty  miles 
and  to  be  able  to  penetrate  anything  with  equanimity 
and  joy.  The  gun,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  once  been 
induced  to  go  off  when  it  had  hurled  itself  passion 
ately  upon  its  back,  incidentally  breaking  its  inven 
tor's  leg.  The  projectile  had  wandered  some  four 
hundred  yards  seaward,  where  it  dug  a  hole  in  the 
water  which  was  really  a  menace  to  navigation.  Since 
then  there  had  been  nothing  tangible  save  the  inven 
tor,  in  splints  and  out  of  splints,  as  the  fortunes  of 
science  decreed.  In  short,  this  office  boy  mixed  his 
business  in  the  perfect  manner  of  an  underdone  lad 
dealing  with  matters  too  large  for  him,  and  through 
out  he  displayed  the  pride  and  assurance  of  a  god. 

As  Coleman  crossed  the  large  office  his  face  still 
wore  the  stern  expression  which  he  invariably  used  to 
carry  him  unmolested  through  the  ranks  of  the  dismal 
band.  As  he  was  removing  his  London  overcoat  he 
addressed  the  imperturbable  back  of  one  of  his  staff, 
who  had  a  desk  against  the  opposite  wall.  "  Has 
Hasskins  sent  in  that  drawing  of  the  mine  accident 


26  ACTIVE  SERVICE, 

i 

yet  ?  "  The  man  did  not  lift  his  head  from  his  work, 
but  he  answered  at  once  :  "  No  ;  not  yet."  Coleman 
was  laying  his  hat  on  a  chair.  "Well,  why  hasn't 
he  ?  "  he  demanded.  He  glanced  toward  the  door  of 
the  room  in  which  the  curly-headed  scoundrel  with  the 
corncob  pipe  was  still  hurling  paper  balls  at  the  man 
who  was  trying  to  invent  the  postures  of  dead  mari 
ners  frozen  in  the  rigging.  The  office  boy  came 
timidly  from  his  post  and  informed  Coleman  of  the 
waiting  people.  "All  right/'  said  the  editor.  He 
dropped  into  his  chair  and  began  to  finger  his  letters, 
which  had  been  neatly  opened  and  placed  in  a  little 
stack  by  a  boy.  Baker  came  in  with  the  photograph 
of  the  miserable  babe. 

It  was  publicly  believed  that  the  Sunday  staff  of  the 
Eclipse  must  have  a  kind  of  aesthetic  delight  in  pic 
tures  of  this  kind,  but  Coleman's  face  betrayed  no 
emotion  as  he  looked  at  this  specimen.  He  lit  a  fresh 
cigar,  tilted  his  chair  and  surveyed  it  with  a  cold  and 
stony  stare.  "Yes,  that's  all  right,"  he  said  slowly. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  affectionate  relation  between 
him  and  this  picture.  Evidently  he  was  weighing 
its  value  as  a  morsel  to  be  flung  to  a  ravenous  public, 
whose  wolf-like  appetite  could  only  satisfy  itself  upon 
mental  entrails,  abominations.  As  for  himself,  he 
seemed  to  be  remote,  exterior.  It  was  a  matter  of 
the  Eclipse  business. 

Suddenly  Coleman  became  executive.     "  Better  give 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  27 

it  to  Schooner  and  tell  him  to  make  a  half-page — or, 
no,  send  him  in  here  and  I'll  tell  him  my  idea. 
How's  the  article?  Any  good?  Well,  give  it  to 
Smith  to  rewrite." 

An  artist  came  from  the  other  room  and  presented 
for  inspection  his  drawing  of  the  seamen  dead  in  the 
rigging  of  the  wreck,  a  company  of  grizzly  and  horri 
ble  figures,  bony-fingered,  shrunken  and  with  awful 
eyes.  "  Hum,"  said  Coleman,  after  a  prolonged  study, 
"  that's  all  right.  That's  good,  Jimmie.  But  you'd 
better  work  'em  up  around  the  eyes  a  little  more." 
The  office  boy  was  deploying  in  the  distance,  waiting 
for  the  correct  moment  to  present  some  cards  and 
names. 

The  artist  was  cheerfully  taking  away  his  corpses 
when  Coleman  hailed  him.  "  Oh,  Jim,  let  me  see  that 
thing  again,  will  you?  Now,  how  about  this  spar? 
This  don't  look  right  to  me." 

"  It  looks  right  to  me,"  replied  the  artist,  sulkily. 

"  But,  see.  It's  going  to  take  up  half  a  page.  Can't 
you  change  it  somehow  ?  " 

"  How  am  I  going  to  change  it  ? "  said  the  other, 
glowering  at  Coleman.  "  That's  the  way  it  ought  to 
be.  How  am  I  going  to  change  it  ?  That's  the  way 
it  ought  to  be." 

"  No,  it  isn't  at  all,"  said  Coleman.  "You've  got  a 
spar  sticking  out  of  the  main  body  of  the  drawing  in  a 
way  that  will  spoil  the  look  of  the  whole  page." 


28  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  artist  was  a  man  of  remarkable  popular  reputa 
tion  and  he  was  very  stubborn  and  conceited  of  it, 
constantly  making  himself  unbearable  with  covert 
threats  that  if  he  was  not  delicately  placated  at  all 
points,  he  would  freight  his  genius  over  to  the  office 
of  the  great  opposition  journal. 

"  That's  the  way  it  ought  to  be,"  he  repeated,  in  a 
tone  at  once  sullen  and  superior.  "  The  spar  is  all 
right.  I  can't  rig  spars  on  ships  just  to  suit  you." 

"And  I  can't  give  up  the  whole  paper  to  your 
accursed  spars,  either,"  said  Coleman,  with  animation. 
"  Don't  you  see  you  use  about  a  third  of  a  page  with 
this  spar  sticking  off  into  space?  Now,  you  were 
always  so  clever,  Jimmie,  in  adapting  yourself  to  the 
page.  Can't  you  shorten  it,  or  cut  it  off,  or  something  ? 
Or,  break  it — that's  the  thing.  Make  it  a  broken  spar 
dangling  down.  See?  " 

"Yes,  I  s'pose  I  could  do  that,"  said  the  artist, 
mollified  by  a  thought  of  the  ease  with  which  he  could 
make  the  change,  and  mollified,  too,  by  the  brazen 
tribute  to  a  part  of  his  cleverness. 

"  Well,  do  it,  then,"  said  the  Sunday  editor,  turning 
abruptly  away.  The  artist,  with  head  high,  walked 
majestically  back  to  the  other  room.  Whereat  the 
curly-headed  one  immediately  resumed  the  rain  of 
paper  balls  upon  him.  The  office  boy  came  timidly  to 
Coleman  and  suggested  the  presence  of  the  people  in 
the  outer  office.  "  Let  them  wait  until  I  read  my 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  29 

mail,"  said  Coleman.  He  shuffled  the  pack  of  letters 
indifferently  through  his  hands.  Suddenly  he  came 
upon  a  little  grey  envelope.  Reopened  it  at  once  and 
scanned  its  contents  with  the  speed  of  his  craft.  After 
ward  he  laid  it  down  before  him  on  the  desk  and  sur 
veyed  it  with  a  cool  and  musing  smile.  "So?"  he 
remarked.  "  That's  the  case,  is  it?" 

He  presently  swung  around  in  his  chair,  and  for  a 
time  held  the  entire  attention  of  the  men  at  the  various 
desks.  He  outlined  to  them  again  their  various  parts 
in  the  composition  of  the  next  great  Sunday  edition. 
In  a  few  brisk  sentences  he  set  a  complex  machine  in 
proper  motion.  His  men  no  longer  thrilled  with  ad 
miration  at  the  precision  with  which  he  grasped  each 
obligation  of  the  campaign  toward  a  successful  edition. 
They  had  grown  to  accept  it  as  they  accepted  his  hat 
or  his  London  clothes.  At  this  time  his  face  was 
lit  with  something  of  the  self-contained  enthusiasm 
of  a  general.  Immediately  afterward  he  arose  and 
reached  for  his  coat  and  hat. 

The  office  boy,  coming  circuitously  forward,  pre 
sented  him  with  some  cards  and  also  with  a  scrap 
of  paper  upon  which  was  scrawled  a  long  and  semi- 
coherent  word.  "  What  are  these  ? "  grumbled 
Coleman. 

"They  are  waiting  outside,"  answered  the  boy, 
with  trepidation.  It  was  part  of  the  law  that  the  lion 
of  the  ante-room  should  cringe  like  a  cuid  monkey, 


30  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

more  or  less,  as  soon  as  he  was  out  of  his  private 
jungle.  "Oh,  Tallerman,"  cried  the  Sunday  editor, 
"  here's  this  Arctic  man  come  to  arrange  about  his 
illustration.  I  wish  you'd  go  and  talk  it  over  with 
him."  By  chance  he  picked  up  the  scrap  of  paper 
with  its  cryptic  word.  "  Oh,"  he  said,  scowling  at  the 
office  boy.  "  Pity  you  can't  remember  that  fellow. 
If  you  can't  remember  faces  any  better  than  that  you 
should  be  a  detective.  Get  out  now  and  tell  him  to 
go  to  the  devil."  The  wilted  slave  turned  at  once, 
but  Coleman  hailed  him.  "  Hold  on.  Come  to  think 
of  it,  I  will  see  this  idiot.  Send  him  in,"  he  com 
manded,  grimly. 

Coleman  lapsed  into  a  dream  over  the  sheet  of  grey 
note  paper.  Presently,  a  middle-aged  man,  a  palpable 
German,  came  hesitatingly  into  the  room  and  bunted 
among  the  desks  as  unmanageably  as  a  tempest-tossed 
scow.  Finally  he  was  impatiently  towed  in  the  right 
direction.  He  came  and  stood  at  Coleman's  elbow 
and  waited  nervously  for  the  engrossed  man  to  raise 
his  eyes.  It  was  plain  that  this  interview  meant  im 
portant  things  to  him.  Somehow  on  his  common 
place  countenance  was  to  be  found  the  expression  of 
a  dreamer,  a  fashioner  of  great  and  absurd  projects,  a 
fine,  tender  fool.  He  cast  hopeful  and  reverent 
glances  at  the  man  who  was  deeply  contemplative  of 
the  grey  note.  He  evidently  believed  himself  on  the 
threshold  of  a  triumph  of  some  kind,  and  he  awaited 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  31 

his  fruition  with  a  joy  that  was  only  made  sharper  by 
the  usual  human  suspicion  of  coming  events. 

Coleman  glanced  up  at  last  and  saw  his  visitor. 
"  Oh,  it's  you,  is  it  ?  "  he  remarked  icily,  bending  upon 
the  German  the  stare  of  a  tyrant.  "  So  you've  come 
again,  have  you?"  He  wheeled  in  his  chair  until  he 
could  fully  display  a  contemptuous,  merciless  smile. 
"  Now,  Mr.  What's-your-name,  you've  called  here  to 
see  me  about  twenty  times  already  and  at  last  I  am 
going  to  say  something  definite  about  your  invention." 
His  listener's  face,  which  had  worn  for  a  moment  a 
look  of  fright  and  bewilderment,  gladdened  swiftly  to 
a  gratitude  that  seemed  the  edge  of  an  outburst  of 
tears.  "  Yes,"  continued  Coleman,  "  I  am  going  to 
say  something  definite.  I  am  going  to  say  that  it  is 
the  most  imbecile  bit  of  nonsense  that  has  come  within 
the  range  of  my  large  newspaper  experience.  It  is 
simply  the  aberration  of  a  rather  remarkable  lunatic. 
It  is  no  good  ;  it  is  not  worth  the  price  of  a  cheese 
sandwich.  I  understand  that  its  one  feat  has  been  to 
break  your  leg  ;  if  it  ever  goes  off  again,  persuade  it 
to  break  your  neck.  And  now  I  want  you  to  take 
this  nursery  rhyme  of  yours  and  get  out.  And  don't 
ever  come  here  again.  Do  you  understand  ?  You 
understand,  do  you?"  He  arose  and  bowed  in  cour 
teous  dismissal. 

The  German  was  regarding  him  with  the  surprise 
and  horror  of  a  youth  shot  mortally.  He  could  not 


32  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

find  his  tongue  for  a  moment.  Ultimately  he  gasped  : 
"  But,  Mister  Editor  " — Coleman  interrupted  him  ti- 
gerishly.  "  You  heard  what  I  said?  Get  out."  The 
man  bowed  his  head  and  went  slowly  toward  the  door. 

Coleman  placed  the  little  grey  note  in  his  breast 
pocket.  He  took  his  hat  and  top  coat,  and  evading 
the  dismal  band  by  a  shameless  manoeuvre,  passed 
through  the  halls  to  the  entrance  to  the  elevator  shaft. 
He  heard  a  movement  behind  him  and  saw  that  the 
German  was  also  waiting  for  the  elevator. 

Standing  in  the  gloom  of  the  corridor,  Coleman  felt 
the  mournful  owlish  eyes  of  the  German  resting  upon 
him.  He  took  a  case  from  his  pocket  and  elaborately 
lit  a  cigarette.  Suddenly  there  was  a  flash  of  light 
and  a  cage  of  bronze,  gilt  and  steel  dropped,  magically 
from  above.  Coleman  yelled :  "  Down  !  "  A  door 
flew  open.  Coleman,  followed  by  the  German, 
stepped  upon  the  elevator.  "  Well,  Johnnie,"  he  said 
cheerfully  to  the  lad  who  operated  this  machine,  "  is 
business  good?"  "Yes,  sir,  pretty  good,"  answered 
the  boy,  grinning.  The  little  cage  sank  swiftly  ;  floor 
after  floor  seemed  to  be  rising  with  marvellous  speed ; 
the  whole  building  was  winging  straight  into  the  sky. 
There  were  soaring  lights,  figures  and  the  opalescent 
glow  of  ground  glass  doors  marked  with  black  in 
scriptions.  Other  lifts  were  springing  heavenward. 
All  the  lofty  corridors  rang  with  cries.  "  Up ! " 
"  Down !  "  "  Down  !  "  "  Up !  "  The  boy's  hand 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  33 

grasped  a  lever  and  his  machine  obeyed  his  lightest 
movement  with  sometimes  an  unbalancing  swiftness. 

Coleman  discoursed  briskly  to  the  youthful  attend 
ant.  Once  he  turned  and  regarded  with  a  quick  stare 
of  insolent  annoyance  the  despairing  countenance  of 
the  German  whose  eyes  had  never  left  him.  When 
the  elevator  arrived  at  the  ground  floor,  Coleman  de 
parted  with  the  outraged  air  of  a  man  who  for  a  time 
had  been  compelled  to  occupy  a  cell  in  company  with 
a  harmless  spectre. 

He  walked  quickly  away.  Opposite  a  corner  of  the 
City  Hall  he  was  impelled  to  look  behind  him. 
Through  the  hordes  of  people  with  cable  cars  march 
ing  like  panoplied  elephants,  he  was  able  to  distin 
guish  the  German,  motionless  and  gazing  after  him. 
Coleman  laughed.  "  That's  a  comic  old  boy,"  he  said, 
to  himself. 

In  the  grill-room  of  a  Broadway  hotel  he  was 
obliged  to  wait  some  minutes  for  the  fulfillment  of  his 
orders  and  he  spent  the  time  in  reading  and  studying 
the  little  grey  note.  When  his  luncheon  was  served 
he  ate  with  an  expression  of  morose  dignity. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MARJORY  paused  again  at  her  father's  door.  After 
hesitating  in  the  original  way  she  entered  the  library. 
Her  father  almost  represented  an  emblematic  figure, 
seated  upon  a  column  of  books.  "  Well,"  he  cried. 
Then,  seeing  it  was  Marjory,  he  changed  his  tone. 
"Ah,  under  the  circumstances,  my  dear,  I  admit  your 
privilege  of  interrupting  me  at  any  hour  of  the  day. 
You  have  important  business  with  me."  His  manner 
was  satanically  indulgent. 

The  girl  fingered  a  book.  She  turned  the  leaves  in 
absolute  semblance  of  a  person  reading.  "  Rufus 
Coleman  called." 

"  Indeed,"  said  the  professor. 

"  And  I've  come  to  you,  father,  before  seeing  him." 

The  professor  was  silent  for  a  time.  "  Well,  Mar 
jory,"  he  said  at  last,  "  what  do  you  want  me  to 
say  ?  "  He  spoke  very  deliberately.  "  I  am  sure  this 
is  a  singular  situation.  Here  appears  the  man  I  for 
mally  forbid  you  to  marry.  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know 
what  I  am  to  say." 

"  I  wish  to  see  him,"  said  the  girl. 

"You  wish  to  see  him?"  enquired  the  professor. 
"You  wish  to  see  him?  Marjory,  I  may  as  well  tell 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  35 

you  now  that  with  all  the  books  and  plays  I've  read,  I 
really  don't  know  how  the  obdurate  father  should 
conduct  himself.  He  is  always  pictured  as  an  exceed 
ingly  dense  gentleman  with  white  whiskers,  who  does 
all  the  unintelligent  things  in  the  plot.  You  and  I  are 
going  to  play  no  drama,  are  we,  Marjory?  I  admit 
that  I  have  white  whiskers,  and  I  am  an  obdurate 
father.  I  am,  as  you  well  may  say,  a  very  obdurate 
father.  You  are  not  to  marry  Rufus  Coleman.  You 
understand  the  rest  of  the  matter.  He  is  here  ;  you 
want  to  see  him.  What  will  you  say  to  him  when 
you  see  him  ?  " 

"  I  will  say  that  you  refuse  to  let  me  marry  him, 
father  and — "  She  hesitated  a  moment  before  she 
lifted  her  eyes  fully  and  formidably  to  her  father's 
face.  "  And  that  I  shall  marry  him  anyhow." 

The  professor  did  not  cavort  when  this  statement 
came  from  his  daughter.  He  nodded  and  then  passed 
into  a  period  of  reflection.  Finally  he  asked  :  "  But 
when  ?  That  is  the  point.  When  ?  " 

The  girl  made  a  sad  gesture.  "  I  don't  know.  I 
don't  know.  Perhaps  when  you  come  to  know  Rufus 
better " 

"  Know  him  better.  Know  that  rapscallion  better? 
Why,  I  know  him  much  better  than  he  knows  himself. 
I  know  him  too  well.  Do  you  think  I  am  talking  off 
hand  about  this  affair?  Do  you  think  I  am  talking 
without  proper  information?" 


36  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Marjory  made  no  reply. 

"Well,"  said  the  professor,  "you  may  see  Coleman 
on  condition  that  you  inform  him  at  once  that  I  for 
bid  your  marriage  to  him.  I  don't  understand  at  all 
how  to  manage  these  situations.  I  don't  know  what 

to  do.  I  suppose  I  should  go  myself  and No,  you 

can't  see  him,  Majory." 

Still  the  girl  made  no  reply.  Her  head  sank  for 
ward  and  she  breathed  a  trifle  heavily. 

"  Marjory,"  cried  the  professor,  "  it  is  impossible 
that  you  should  think  so  much  of  this  man."  He 
arose  and  went  to  his  daughter.  "  Marjory,  many 
wise  children  have  been  guided  by  foolish  fathers, 
but  we  both  suspect  that  no  foolish  child  has  ever 
been  guided  by  a  wise  father.  Let  us  change  it.  I 
present  myself  to  you  as  a  wise  father.  Follow  my 
wishes  in  this  affair  and  you  will  be  at  least  happier 
than  if  you  marry  this  wretched  Coleman." 

She  answered :  "  He  is  waiting  for  me." 

The  professor  turned  abruptly  from  her  and  dropped 
into  his  chair  at  the  table.  He  resumed  a  grip  on  his 
pen.  "  Go,"  he  said,  wearily.  "  Go.  But  if  you  have 
a  remnant  of  sense,  remember  what  I  have  said  to 
you.  Go."  He  waved  his  hand  in  a  dismissal  that 
was  slightly  scornful.  "  I  hoped  you  would  have  a 
minor  conception  of  what  you  were  doing.  It  seems 
a  pity."  Drooping  in  tears,  the  girl  slowly  left  the 
room. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  37 

Coleman  had  an  idea  that  he  had  occupied  the 
chair  for  several  months.  He  gazed  about  at  the 
pictures  and  the  odds  and  ends  of  a  drawing-room  in 
an  attempt  to  take  an  interest  in  them.  The  great 
garlanded  paper  shade  over  the  piano  lamp  consoled 
his  impatience  in  a  mild  degree  because  he  knew  that 
Marjory  had  made  it.  He  noted  the  clusters  of  cloth 
violets  which  she  had  pinned  upon  the  yellow  paper 
and  he  dreamed  over  the  fact.  He  was  able  to  endow 
this  shade  with  certain  qualities  of  sentiment  that 
caused  his  stare  to  become  almost  a  part  of  an  inti 
macy,  a  communion.  He  looked  as  if  he  could  have 
unburdened  his  soul  to  this  shade  over  the  piano 
lamp. 

Upon  the  appearance  of  Marjory  he  sprang  up  and 
came  forward  rapidly.  "  Dearest,"  he  murmured, 
stretching  out  both  hands.  She  gave  him  one  set  of 
fingers  with  chilling  convention.  She  said  something 
which  he  understood  to  be  "  Good-afternoon."  He 
started  as  if  the  woman  before  him  had  suddenly 
drawn  a  knife.  "  Marjory,"  he  cried,  "  what  is  the 
matter  ?  "  They  walked  together  toward  a  window. 
The  girl  looked  at  him  in  polite  enquiry.  "  Why?" 
she  said.  "  Do  I  seem  strange  ?  "  There  was  a  mo 
ment's  silence  while  he  gazed  into  her  eyes,  eyes  full 
of  innocence  and  tranquillity.  At  last  she  tapped  her 
foot  upon  the  floor  in  expression  of  mild  impatience. 
"  People  do  not  like  to  be  asked  what  is  the  matter 


38  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

when  there  is  nothing  the  matter.  What  do  you 
mean  ?  " 

Coleman's  face  had  gradually  hardened.  "  Well, 
what  is  wrong?"  he  demanded,  abruptly.  "What 
has  happened?  What  is  it,  Marjory  ?  " 

She  raised  her  glance  in  a  perfect  reality  of  wonder. 
"  What  is  wrong  ?  What  has  happened  ?  How  ab 
surd!  Why  nothing,  of  course."  She  gazed  out  of 
the  window.  "  Look,"  she  added,  brightly,  "  the  stu 
dents  are  rolling  somebody  in  a  drift.  Oh,  the  poor 
man ! " 

Coleman,  now  wearing  a  bewildered  air,  made  some 
pretense  of  being  occupied  with  the  scene.  "  Yes," 
he  said,  ironically.  "Very  interesting,  indeed." 

"  Oh,"  said  Marjory,  suddenly,  "  I  forgot  to  tell 
you.  Father  is  going  to  take  mother  and  me  to 
Greece  this  winter  with  him  and  the  class." 

Coleman  replied  at  once.  "  Ah,  indeed  ?  That 
will  be  jolly." 

"  Yes.     Won't  it  be  charming  ?  " 

"  I  don't  doubt  it,"  he  replied.  His  composure 
may  have  displeased  her,  for  she  glanced  at  him  fur 
tively  and  in  a  way  that  denoted  surprise,  perhaps. 

"  Oh,  of  course,"  she  said,  in  a  glad  voice.  "  It  will 
be  more  fun.  We  expect  to  have  a  fine  time.  There 
is  such  a  nice  lot  of  boys  going*  Sometimes  father 
chooses  these  dreadfully  studious  ones.  But  this  time  he 
acts  as  if  he  knew  precisely  how  to  make  up  a  party0" 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  39 

He  reached  for  her  hand  and  grasped  it  vise-like. 
"  Marjory,"  he  breathed,  passionately,  "  don't  treat 
me  so.  Don't  treat  me— 

She  wrenched  her  hand  from  him  in  regal  indig 
nation.  "  One  or  two  rings  make  it  uncomfortable 
for  the  hand  that  is  grasped  by  an  angry  gentleman." 
She  held  her  ringers  and  gazed  as  if  she  expected  to 
find  them  mere  debris.  "  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  not 
interested  in  the  students  rolling  that  man  in  the 
snow.  It  is  the  greatest  scene  our  quiet  life  can 
afford." 

He  was  regarding  her  as  a  judge  faces  a  lying  cul 
prit.  "  I  know,"  he  said,  after  a  pause.  "  Somebody 
has  been  telling  you  some  stories.  You  have  been 
hearing  something  about  me." 

"Some  stories?"  she  enquired.  "Some  stories 
about  you?  What  do  you  mean?  Do  you  mean 
that  I  remember  stories  I  may  happen  to  hear  about 
people?" 

There  was  another  pause  and  then  Coleman's  face 
flared  red.  He  beat  his  hand  violently  upon  a  table. 
"Good  God,  Marjory!  Don't  make  a  fool  of  me. 
Don't  make  this  kind  of  a  fool  of  me,  at  any  rate. 
Tell  me  what  you  mean.  Explain " 

She  laughed  at  him.  "Explain?  Really,  your 
vocabulary  is  getting  extensive,  but  it  is  dreadfully 
awkward  to  ask  people  to  explain  when  there  is 
nothing  to  explain." 


40  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

He  glanced  at  her,  "  I  know  as  well  as  you  do 
that  your  father  is  taking  you  to  Greece  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  me." 

"  And  do  people  have  to  go  to  Greece  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  you  ?  "  she  asked,  civilly.  "  I  think  you  are 
getting  excited." 

"  Marjory,"  he  began,  stormily. 

She  raised  her  hand.  ''Hush,"  she  said,  "there  is 
somebody  coming."  A  bell  had  rung.  A  maid 
entered  the  room.  "Mr.  Coke,"  she  said.  Marjory 
nodded.  In  the  interval  of  waiting,  Coleman  gave  the 
girl  a  glance  that  mingled  despair  with  rage  and  pride. 
Then  Coke  burst  with  half-tamed  rapture  into  the 
room.  "  Oh,  Miss  Wainwright,"  he  almost  shouted, 
"  I  can't  tell  you  how  glad  I  am.  I  just  heard  to-day 
you  were  going.  Imagine  it.  It  will  be  more — oh, 
how  are  you  Coleman,  how  are  you  ?  " 

Marjory  welcomed  the  new-comer  with  a  cordiality 
that  might  not  have  thrilled  Coleman  with  pleasure. 
They  took  chairs  that  formed  a  triangle  and  one  side 
of  it  vibrated  with  talk.  Coke  and  Marjory  engaged 
in  a  tumultuous  conversation  concerning  the  prospec 
tive  trip  to  Greece.  The  Sunday  editor,  as  remote  as 
if  the  apex  of  his  angle  was  the  top  of  a  hill,  could 
only  study  the  girl's  clear  profile.  The  youthful 
voices  of  the  two  others  ran  like  bells.  He  did  not 
scowl  at  Coke  ;  he  merely  looked  at  him  as  if  he  gently 
disdained  his  mental  calibre.  In  fact  all  the  talk  seemed 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  41 

to  tire  him  ;  it  was  childish  ;  as  for  him,  he  apparently 
found  this  babble  almost  insupportable. 

"  And,  just  think  of  the  camel  rides  we'll  have," 
cried  Coke. 

"  Camel  rides,"  repeated  Coleman,  dejectedly.  "  My 
dear  Coke." 

Finally  he  arose  like  an  old  man  climbing  from 
a  sick  bed.  "Well,  I  am  afraid  I  must  go,  Miss 
Wainwright."  Then  he  said  affectionately  to  Coke : 
"  Good-bye,  old  boy.  I  hope  you  will  have  a  good 
time." 

Marjory  walked  with  him  to  the  door.  He  shook 
her  hand  in  a  friendly  fashion.  "  Good-bye,  Marjory,' 
he  said.  "  Perhaps  it  may  happen  that  I  shan't  see 
you  again  before  you  start  for  Greece  and  so  I  had 
best  bid  you  God-speed — or  whatever  the  term  is — 
now.  You  will  have  a  charming  time  ;  Greece  must 
be  a  delightful  place.  Really,  I  envy  you,  Marjory. 
And  now  my  dear  child  " — his  voice  grew  brotherly, 
filled  with  the  patronage  of  generous  fraternal  love, 
— "  although  I  may  never  see  you  again  let  me  wish 
you  fifty  as  happy  years  as  this  last  one  has  been  for 
me."  He  smiled  frankly  into  her  eyes  ;  then  dropping 
her  hand,  he  went  away. 

Coke  renewed  his  tempest  of  talk  as  Marjory  turned 
toward  him.  But  after  a  series  of  splendid  eruptions, 
whose  red  fire  illumined  all  of  ancient  and  modern 
Greece,  he  too  went  away. 


42  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  professor  was  in  his  library  apparently  ab 
sorbed  in  a  book  when  a  tottering  pale-faced  woman 
appeared  to  him  and,  in  her  course  toward  a  couch  in 
a  corner  of  the  room,  described  almost  a  semi-circle. 
She  flung  herself  face  downward.  A  thick  strand  of 
hair  swept  over  her  shoulder.  "  Oh,  my  heart  is 
broken  !  My  heart  is  broken !  " 

The  professor  arose,  grizzled  and  thrice-old  with 
pain.  He  went  to  the  couch,  but  he  found  himself  a 
handless,  fetless  man.  "  My  poor  child,"  he  said. 
"  My  poor  child."  He  remained  listening  stupidly  to 
her  convulsive  sobbing.  A  ghastly  kind  of  solemnity 
came  upon  the  room. 

Suddenly  the  girl  lifted  herself  and  swept  the  strand 
of  hair  away  from  her  face.  She  looked  at  the  pro 
fessor  with  the  wide-open  dilated  eyes  of  one  who 
still  sleeps.  "  Father,"  she  said  in  a  hollow  voice,  "  he 
don't  love  me.  He  don't  love  me.  He  don't  love  me 
at  all.  You  were  right,  father."  She  began  to  laugh. 

"  Marjory,"  said  the  professor,  trembling.  "  Be 
quiet,  child.  Be  quiet." 

"  But,"  she  said,  "  I  thought  he  loved  me — I  was 
sure  of  it.  But  it  don't — don't  matter.  I — I  can't  get 
over  it.  Women — women,  the — but  it  don't  matter." 

"  Marjory,"  said  the  professor.  "  Marjory,  my  poor 
daughter." 

She  did  not  heed  his  appeal,  but  continued  in  a  dull 
whisper.  "  He  was  playing  with  me.  He  was — was 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  43 

—was  flirting  with  me.  He  didn't  care  when  I  told 
him— I  told  him— I  was  going— going  away."  She 
turned  her  face  wildly  to  the  cushions  again.  Her 
young  shoulders  shook  as  if  they  might  break.  "Wo 
men — women — they  always " 


CHAPTER  V. 

BY  a  strange  mishap  of  management,  the  train 
which  bore  Coleman  back  toward  New  York  was 
fetched  into  an  obscure  side-track  of  some  lonely 
region  and  there  compelled  to  bide  a  change  of  fate. 
The  engine  wheezed  and  sneezed  like  a  paused  fat  man. 
The  lamps  in  the  cars  pervaded  a  stuffy  odor  of  smoke 
and  oil.  Coleman  examined  his  case  and  found  only 
one  cigar.  Important  brakemen  proceeded  rapidly 
along  the  aisles,  and  when  they  swung  open  the  doors, 
a  polar  wind  circled  the  legs  of  the  passengers. 
"  Well,  now,  what  is  all  this  for?  "  demanded  Coleman, 
furiously.  "  I  want  to  get  back  to  New  York." 

The  conductor  replied  with  sarcasm,  "  Maybe  you 
think  I'm  stuck  on  it  ?  I  ain't  running  the  road.  I'm 
running  this  train,  and  I  run  it  according  to  orders." 
Amid  the  dismal  comforts  of  the  waiting  cars,  Cole 
man  felt  all  the  profound  misery  of  the  rebuffed  true 
lover.  He  had  been  sentenced,  he  thought,  to  a 
penal  servitude  of  the  heart,  as  he  watched  the  dusky, 
vague  ribbons  of  smoke  come  from  the  lamps  and  felt 
to  his  knees  the  cold  winds  from  the  brakemen's  busy 
flights.  When  the  train  started  with  a  whistle  and  a 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  45 

jolt,  he  was  elate  as  if  in  his  abjection  his  beloved's 
hand  had  reached  to  him  from  the  clouds. 

When  he  had  arrived  in  New  York,  a  cab  rattled  him 
to  an  uptown  hotel  with  speed.  In  the  restaurant  he 
first  ordered  a  large  bottle  of  champagne.  The  last  of 
the  wine  he  finished  in  sombre  mood  like  an  unbroken 
and  defiant  man  who  chews  the  straw  that  litters  his 
prison  house.  During  his  dinner  he  was  continually 
sending  out  messenger  boys.  He  was  arranging  a 
poker  party.  Through  a  window  he  watched  the 
beautiful  moving  life  of  upper  Broadway  at  night, 
with  its  crowds  and  clanging  cable  cars  and  its  electric 
signs,  mammoth  and  glittering,  like  the  jewels  of  a 
giantess. 

Word  was  brought  to  him  that  the  poker  players 
were  arriving.  He  arose  joyfully,  leaving  his  cheese. 
In  the  broad  hall,  occupied  mainly  by  miscellaneous 
people  and  actors,  all  deep  in  leather  chairs,  he  found 
some  of  his  friends  waiting.  They  trooped  up  stairs 
to  Coleman's  rooms,  where  as  a  preliminary,  Coleman 
began  to  hurl  books  and  papers  from  the  table  to  the 
floor.  A  boy  came  with  drinks.  Most  of  the  men,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  the  game,  removed  their  coats 
and  cuffs  and  drew  up  the  sleeves  of  their  shirts.  The 
electric  globes  shed  a  blinding  light  upon  the  table. 
The  sound  of  clinking  chips  arose ;  the  elected  banker 
spun  the  cards,  careless  and  dexterous. 

Later,  during   a   pause  of   dealing,  Coleman   said: 


46  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Billie,  what  kind  of  a  lad  is  that  young  Coke  up  at 
Washurst?  "  He  addressed  an  old  college  friend. 

"  Oh,  you  mean  the  Sophomore  Coke  ?  "  asked  the 
friend.  "  Seems  a  decent  sort  of  a  fellow.  I  don't 
know.  Why  ?  " 

"  Well,  who  is  he  ?  Where  does  he  come  from  ? 
What  do  you  know  about  him  ?  " 

"  He's  one  of  those  Ohio  Cokes — regular  thing- 
father  millionaire — used  to  be  a  barber — good  old  boy 
-why  ?  " 

"  Nothin',"  said  Coleman,  looking  at  his  cards.  "  I 
know  the  lad.  I  thought  he  was  a  good  deal  of  an  ass. 
I  wondered  who  his  people  were." 

"  Oh,  his  people  are  all  right — in  one  way.  Father 
owns  rolling  mills.  Do  you  raise  it,  Henry  ?  Well, 
in  order  to  make  vice  abhorrent  to  the  young,  I'm 
obliged  to  raise  back." 

"  I'll  see  it,"  observed  Coleman,  slowly  pushing  for 
ward  two  blue  chips.  Afterward  he  reached  behind 
him  and  took  another  glass  of  wine. 

To  the  others  Coleman  seemed  to  have  something 
bitter  upon  his  mind.  He  played  poker  quietly, 
steadfastly,  and,  without  change  of  eye,  following  the 
mathematical  religion  of  the  game.  Outside  of  the 
play  he  was  savage,  almost  insupportable. 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you,  Rufus  ? "  said  his 
old  college  friend,  "  Lost  your  job?  Girl  gone  back 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  47 

on  you  ?  You're  a  hell  of  a  host.  We  don't  get  any 
thing  but  insults  and  drinks." 

Late  at  night  Coleman  began  to  lose  steadily.  In 
the  meantime  he  drank  glass  after  glass  of  wine.  Fi 
nally  he  made  reckless  bets  on  a  mediocre  hand  and 
an  opponent  followed  him  thoughtfully  bet  by  bet, 
undaunted,  calm,  absolutely  without  emotion.  Cole 
man  lost  ;  he  hurled  down  his  cards.  "  Nobody  but  a 
damned  fool  would  have  seen  that  last  raise  on  any 
thing  less  than  a  full  hand." 

"  Steady.  Come  off.  What's  wrong  with  you,  Ru- 
fus?"  cried  his  guests. 

"  You're  not  drunk,  are  you  ?  "  said  his  old  college 
friend,  puritanically. 

"  '  Drunk  '  ?  "  repeated  Coleman. 

"  Oh,  say,"  cried  a  man,  "  let's  play  cards.  What's 
all  this  gabbling?" 

It  was  when  a  grey,  dirty  light  of  dawn  evaded  the 
thick  curtains  and  fought  on  the  floor  with  the  feebled 
electric  glow  that  Coleman,  in  the  midst  of  play, 
lurched  his  chest  heavily  upon  the  table.  Some  chips 
rattled  to  the  floor.  "I'll  call  you,"  he  murmured, 
sleepily. 

"  Well,"  replied  a  man,  sternly,  "  three  kings." 

The  other  players  with  difficulty  extracted  five 
cards  from  beneath  Coleman's  pillowed  head.  "  Not 
a  pair !  Come,  come,  this  won't  do.  Oh,  let's  stop 
playing.  This  is  the  rottenest  game  I  ever  sat  in. 


48  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Let's  go  home.  Why  don't  you  put  him  to  bed, 
Billie  ?  " 

When  Coleman  awoke  next  morning,  he  looked 
back  upon  the  poker  game  as  something  that  had 
transpired  in  previous  years.  He  dressed  and  went 
down  to  the  grill-room.  For  his  breakfast  he  ordered 
some  eggs  on  toast  and  a  pint  of  champagne.  A  privi 
lege  of  liberty  belonged  to  a  certain  Irish  waiter,  and 
this  waiter  looked  at  him,  grinning.  "  Maybe  you  had 
a  pretty  lively  time  last  night,  Mr.  Coleman  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Pat,"  answered  Coleman,  "  I  did.  It  was  all 
because  of  an  unrequited  affection,  Patrick."  The 
man  stood  near,  a  napkin  over  his  arm.  Coleman 
went  on  impressively.  "The  ways  of  the  modern 
lover  are  strange.  Now,  I,  Patrick,  am  a  modern 
lover,  and  when,  yesterday,  the  dagger  of  disappoint 
ment  was  driven  deep  into  my  heart,  I  immediately 
played  poker  as  hard  as  I  could  and  incidentally  got 
loaded.  This  is  the  modern  point  of  view.  I  under 
stand  on  good  authority  that  in  old  times  lovers  used 
to  languish.  That  is  probably  a  lie,  but  at  any  rate 
we  do  not,  in  these  times,  languish  to  any  great  ex 
tent.  We  get  drunk.  Do  you  understand,  Patrick?  " 

The  waiter  was  used  to  a  harangue  at  Coleman's 
breakfast  time.  He  placed  his  hand  over  his  mouth 
and  giggled.  "Yessir." 

"  Of  course,"  continued  Coleman,  thoughtfully. 
"  It  might  be  pointed  out  by  uneducated  persons  that 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  49 

it  is  difficult  to  maintain  a  high  standard  of  drunken 
ness  for  the  adequate  length  of  time,  but  in  the  series 
of  experiments  which  I  am  about  to  make  I  am  sure 
I  can  easily  prove  them  to  be  in  the  wrong." 

"  I  am  sure,  sir,"  said  the  waiter,  "  the  young  ladies 
would  not  like  to  be  hearing  you  talk  this  way." 

"  Yes ;  no  doubt,  no  doubt.  The  young  ladies 
have  still  quite  medieval  ideas.  They  don't  under 
stand.  They  still  prefer  lovers  to  languish." 

"  At  any  rate,  sir,  I  don't  see  that  your  heart  is  sure 
enough  broken.  You  seem  to  take  it  very  easy." 

"Broken!"  cried  Coleman.  "Easy?  Man,  my 
heart  is  in  fragments.  Bring  me  another  small  bottle." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Six  weeks  later,  Coleman  went  to  the  office  of  the 
proprietor  of  the  Eclipse.  Coleman  was  one  of  those 
smooth-shaven  old-young  men  who  wear  upon  some 
occasions  a  singular  air  of  temperance  and  purity.  At 
these  times,  his  features  lost  their  quality  of  worldly 
shrewdness  and  endless  suspicion  and  bloomed  as  the 
face  of  some  innocent  boy.  It  then  would  be  hard  to 
tell  that  he  had  ever  encountered  even  such  a  crime 
as  a  lie  or  a  cigarette.  As  he  walked  into  the  pro 
prietor's  office  he  was  a  perfect  semblance  of  a  fine, 
inexperienced  youth.  People  usually  concluded  this 
change  was  due  to  a  Turkish  bath  or  some  other  ex 
pedient  of  recuperation,  but  it  was  due  probably  to 
the  power  of  a  physical  characteristic. 

"  Boss  in  ?  "  said  Coleman. 

"  Yeh,"  said  the  secretary,  jerking  his  thumb  toward 
an  inner  door.  In  his  private  office,  Sturgeon  sat  on 
the  edge  of  the  table  dangling  one  leg  and  dreamily 
surveying  the  wall.  As  Coleman  entered  he  looked 
up  quickly.  "  Rufus,"  he  cried,  "  you're  just  the  man 
I  wanted  to  see.  I've  got  a  scheme.  A  great  scheme." 
He  slid  from  the  table  and  began  to  pace  briskly  to 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  51 

and  fro,  his  hands  deep  in  his  trousers'  pockets,  his 
chin  sunk  in  his  collar,  his  light  blue  eyes  afire  with 
interest.  "  Now  listen.  This  is  immense.  The 
Eclipse  enlists  a  battalion  of  men  to  go  to  Cuba  and 
fight  the  Spaniards  under  its  own  flag — the  Eclipse  flag. 
Collect  trained  officers  from  here  and  there — enlist 
every  young  devil  we  see — drill  'em — best  rifles — loads 
of  ammunition — provisions — staff  of  doctors  and  nurses 
— a  couple  of  dynamite  guns — everything  complete — 
best  in  the  world.  Now,  isn't  that  great  ?  What's 
the  matter  with  that  now?  Eh?  Eh?  Isn't  that 
great?  It's  great,  isn't  it?  Eh?  Why,  my  boy, 
we'll  free " 

Coleman  did  not  seem  to  ignite.  "  I  have  been  ar 
rested  four  or  five  times  already  on  fool  matters  con 
nected  with  the  newspaper  business,"  he  observed, 
gloomily,  "  but  I've  never  yet  been  hung.  I  think 
your  scheme  is  a  beauty." 

Sturgeon  paused  in  astonishment.  "  Why,  what 
happens  to  be  the  matter  with  you  ?  What  are  you 
kicking  about  ? 

Coleman  made  a  slow  gesture.  "  I'm  tired,"  he  an 
swered.  "  I  need  a  vacation." 

"  Vacation  !  "  cried  Sturgeon.  "  Why  don't  you 
take  one  then  ?  " 

"  That's  what  I've  come  to  see  you  about.  I've  had 
a  pretty  heavy  strain  on  me  for  three  years  now,  and 
I  want  to  get  a  little  rest." 


52  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Well,  who  in  thunder  has  been  keeping  you  from 
it?  It  hasn't  been  me." 

"  I  know  it  hasn't  been  you,  but,  of  course,  I  wanted 
the  paper  to  go  and  I  wanted  to  have  my  share  in  its 
success,  but  now  that  everything  is  all  right  I  think  I 
might  go  away  for  a  time  if  you  don't  mind." 

"  Mind  !  "  exclaimed  Sturgeon  falling  into  his  chair 
and  reaching  for  his  check  book.  "Where  do  you 
want  to  go?  How  long  do  you  want  to  be  gone? 
How  much  money  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  very  much.  And  as  for  where  I  want 
to  go,  I  thought  I  might  like  to  go  to  Greece  for  a 
while." 

Sturgeon  had  been  writing  a  check.  He  poised  his 
pen  in  the  air  and  began  to  laugh.  "  That's  a  queer 
place  to  go  for  a  rest.  Why,  the  biggest  war  of 
modern  times — a  war  that  may  involve  all  Europe — is 
likely  to  start  there  at  any  moment.  You  are  not 
likely  to  get  any  rest  in  Greece." 

"  I  know  that,"  answered  Coleman.  "  I  know  there 
is  likely  to  be  a  war  there.  But  I  think  that  is  ex 
actly  what  would  rest  me.  I  would  like  to  report  the 
war." 

"You  are  a  queer  bird,"  answered  Sturgeon  deeply 
fascinated  with  this  new  idea.  He  had  apparently 
forgotten  his  vision  of  a  Cuban  volunteer  battalion. 
"  War  correspondence  is  about  the  most  original 
medium  for  a  rest  I  ever  heard  of." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  53 

"Oh,  it  may  seem  funny,  but  really,  any  change 
will  be  good  for  me  now.  I've  been  whacking  at  this 
old  Sunday  edition  until  I'm  sick  of  it,  and  some 
times  I  wish  the  Eclipse  was  in  hell." 

"  That's  all  right,"  laughed  the  proprietor  of  the 
Eclipse.  "  But  I  still  don't  see  how  you  are  going  to 
get  any  vacation  out  of  a  war  that  will  upset  the 
whole  of  Europe.  But  that's  your  affair.  If  you 
want  to  become  the  chief  correspondent  in  the  field 
in  case  of  any  such  war,  why,  of  course,  I  would  be 
glad  to  have  you.  I  couldn't  get  anybody  better. 
But  I  don't  see  where  your  vacation  comes  in." 

"  I'll  take  care  of  that,"  answered  Coleman.  "  When 
I  take  a  vacation  I  want  to  take  it  my  own  way,  and  I 
think  this  will  be  a  vacation  because  it  will  be  different 
— don't  you  see — different  ?  " 

"No,  I  don't  see  any  sense  in  it,  but  if  you  think 
that  is  the  way  that  suits  you,  why,  go  ahead.  How 
much  money  do  you  want  ?" 

44 1  don't  want  much.  Just  enough  to  see  me 
through  nicely." 

Sturgeon  scribbled  on  his  check  book  and  then 
ripped  a  check  from  it.  "  Here's  a  thousand  dollars. 
Will  that  do  you  to  start  with?  " 

"  That's  plenty." 

"  When  do  you  want  to  start?" 

14  To-morrow." 

14  Oho,"  said  Sturgeon.     44  You're  in  a  hurry."     This 


54  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

impetuous  manner  of  exit  from  business  seemed  to 
appeal  to  him.  "  To-morrow,"  he  repeated  smiling. 
In  reality  he  was  some  kind  of  a  poet  using  his  mil 
lions  romantically,  spending  wildly  on  a  sentiment  that 
might  be  with  beauty  or  without  beauty,  according  to 
the  momentary  vacillation.  The  vaguely-defined 
desperation  in  Coleman's  last  announcement  appeared 
to  delight  him.  He  grinned  and  placed  the  points  of 
his  fingers  together  stretching  out  his  legs  in  a  careful 
attitude  of  indifference  which  might  even  mean  dis 
approval.  "  To-morrow,"  he  murmured  teasingly. 

"  By  jiminy,"  exclaimed  Coleman,  ignoring  the 
other  man's  mood,  "  I'm  sick  of  the  whole  business. 
I've  got  out  a  Sunday  paper  once  a  week  for  three 
years  and  I  feel  absolutely  incapable  of  getting  out 
another  edition.  It  would  be  all  right  if  we  were  run 
ning  on  ordinary  lines,  but  when  each  issue  is  more  or 
less  of  an  attempt  to  beat  the  previous  issue,  it  be 
comes  rather  wearing,  you  know.  If  I  can't  get  a  va 
cation  now  I  take  one  later  in  a  lunatic  asylum." 

"  Why,  I'm  not  objecting  to  your  having  a  vacation. 
I'm  simply  marvelling  at  the  kind  of  vacation  you 
want  to  take.  And  '  to-morrow/  too,  eh?" 

"  Well,  it  suits  me,"  muttered  Coleman,  sulkily. 

"  Well,  if  it  suits  you,  that's  enough.  Here's  your 
check.  Clear  out  now  and  don't  let  me  see  you  again 
until  you  are  thoroughly  rested,  even  if  it  takes  a 
year."  He  arose  and  stood  smiling.  He  was  mightily 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  55 

pleased  with  himself.  He  liked  to  perform  in  this 
way.  He  was  almost  seraphic  as  he  thrust  the  check 
for  a  thousand  dollars  toward  Coleman. 

Then  his  manner  changed  abruptly.     "  Hold  on  a 
minute.     I  must  think  a  little  about  this  thing  if  you 
are  going  to  manage  the  correspondence.     Of  course 
it  will  be  a  long  and  bloody  war." 
"You  bet." 

"The  big  chance  is  that  all  Europe  will  be  dragged 
into  it.  Of  course  then  you  would  have  to  come  out 
of  Greece  and  take  up  a  better  position— say  Vienna." 
"  No,  I  wouldn't  care  to  do  that,"  said  Coleman 
positively.  "  I  just  want  to  take  care  of  the  Greek 
end  of  it." 

"  It  will  be  an  idiotic  way  to  take  a  vacation,"  ob 
served  Sturgeon. 

"  Well,  it  suits  me,"  muttered  Coleman  again, 
tell  you  what  it  is—"  he  added  suddenly.     "  I've  got 
some  private  reasons — see  ?  " 

Sturgeon  was  radiant  with  joy.  "  Private  reasons." 
He  was  charmed  by  the  sombre  pain  in  Coleman's 
eyes  and  his  own  ability  to  eject  it.  "  Good.  Go 
now  and  be  blowed.  I  will  cable  final  instruction  to 
meet  you  in  London.  As  soon  as  you  get  to  Greece, 
cable  me  an  account  of  the  situation  there  and  we 
will  arrange  our  plans."  He  began  to  laugh.  "  Pri 
vate  reasons.  Come  out  to  dinner  with  me." 


56  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  I  can't  very  well,"  said  Coleman.  "  If  I  go  to 
morrow,  I've  got  to  pack " 

But  here  the  real  tyrant  appeared,  emerging  sud 
denly  from  behind  the  curtain  of  sentiment,  appear 
ing  like  a  red  devil  in  a  pantomine.  "  You  can't  ?  " 
snapped  Sturgeon.  "  Nonsense " 


CHAPTER   VII. 

SWEEPING  out  from  between  two  remote,  half- 
submerged  dunes  on  which  stood  slender  sentry  light 
houses,  the  steamer  began  to  roll  with  a  gentle  insinu 
ating  motion.  Passengers  in  their  staterooms  saw  at 
rhythmical  intervals  the  spray  racing  fleetly  past  the 
portholes.  The  waves  grappled  hurriedly  at  the 
sides  of  the  great  flying  steamer  and  boiled  discomfited 
astern  in  a  turmoil  of  green  and  white.  From  the 
tops  of  the  enormous  funnels  streamed  level  masses  of 
smoke  which  were  immediately  torn  to  nothing  by  the 
headlong  wind.  Meanwhile  as  the  steamer  rushed 
into  the  northeast,  men  in  caps  and  ulsters  comfort 
ably  paraded  the  decks  and  stewards  arranged  deck 
chairs  for  the  reception  of  various  women  who  were 
coming  from  their  cabins  with  rugs. 

In  the  smoking  room,  old  voyagers  were  settling 
down  comfortably  while  new  voyagers  were  regarding 
them  with  a  diffident  respect.  Among  the  passengers 
Coleman  found  a  number  of  people  whom  he  knew, 
including  a  wholesale  wine  merchant,  a  Chicago  railway 
magnate  and  a  New  York  millionaire.  They  lived 
practically  in  the  smoking  room.  Necessity  drove 
them  from  time  to  time  to  the  salon,  or  to  their 


58  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

berths.  Once  indeed  the  millionaire  was  absent  from 
the  group  while  penning  a  short  note  to  his  wife. 

When  the  Irish  coast  was  sighted  Coleman  came  on 
deck  to  look  at  it.  A  tall  young  woman  immediately 
halted  in  her  walk  until  he  had  stepped  up  to  her. 
"  Well,  of  all  ungallant  men,  Rufus  Coleman,  you  are 
the  star,"  she  cried  laughing  and  held  out  her  hand. 

"  Awfully  sorry,  I'm  sure,"  he  murmured.  "  Been 
playing  poker  in  the  smoking  room  all  voyage.  Didn't 
have  a  look  at  the  passenger  list  until  just  now.  Why 
didn't  you  send  me  word  ?"  These  lies  were  told  so 
modestly  and  sincerely  that  when  the  girl  flashed  her 
brilliant  eyes  full  upon  their  author  there  was  a  mix 
ture  of  admiration  in  the  indignation. 

"  Send  you  a  card  ?  I  don't  believe  you  can  read, 
Rufus,  else  you  would  have  known  I  was  to  sail  on 
this  steamer.  If  I  hadn't  been  ill  until  to-day  you 
would  have  seen  me  in  the  salon.  I  open  at  the  Folly 
Theatre  next  week.  Dear  ol'  Lunnon,  y'  know." 

"  Of  course,  I  knew  you  were  going,"  said  Coleman. 
"  But  I  thought  you  were  to  go  later.  What  do  you 
open  in?  " 

4 'Fly  by  Night.  Come  walk  along  with  me.  See 
those  two  old  ladies  ?  They've  been  watching  for  me 
like  hawks  ever  since  we  left  New  York.  They  ex 
pected  me  to  flirt  with  every  man  on  board.  But  I've 
fooled  them.  I've  been  just  as  g-o-o-d.  I  had  to  be." 

As  the  pair  moved  toward  the  stern,  enormous  and 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  59 

radiant  green  waves  were  crashing  futilely  after  the 
steamer.  Ireland  showed  a  dreary  coast  line  to  the 
north.  A  wretched  man  who  had  crossed  the  Atlan 
tic  eighty-four  times  was  declaiming  to  a  group  of 
novices.  A  venerable  banker,  bundled  in  rugs,  was 
asleep  in  his  deck  chair. 

"  Well,  Nora,"  said  Coleman,  "  I  hope  you  make  a 
hit  in  London.  You  deserve  it  if  anybody  does. 
You've  worked  hard." 

"Worked  hard,"  cried  the  girl.  "  I  should  think  so. 
Eight  years  ago  I  was  in  the  rear  row.  Now  I  have 
the  centre  of  the  stage  whenever  I  want  it.  I  made 
Chalmers  cut  out  that  great  scene  in  the  second 
act  between  the  queen  and  Rodolfo.  The  idea !  Did 
he  think  I  would  stand  that  ?  And  just  because  he 
was  in  love  with  Clara  Trotwood,  too." 

Coleman  was  dreamy.  "  Remember  when  I  was 
dramatic  man  for  the  Gazette  and  wrote  the  first  no 
tice?" 

"  Indeed,  I  do,"  answered  the  girl  affectionately. 
"  Indeed,  I  do,  Rufus.  Ah,  that  was  a  great  lift.  I 
believe  that  was  the  first  thing  that  had  an  effect  on 
old  Oliver.  Before  that,  he  never  would  believe  that 
I  was  any  good.  Give  me  your  arm,  Rufus.  Let's 
parade  before  the  two  old  women."  Coleman  glanced 
at  her  keenly.  Her  voice  had  trembled  slightly.  Her 
eyes  were  lustrous  as  if  she  were  about  to  weep. 

"  Good  heavens,"  he  said.     "  You  are  the  same  old 


60  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Nora  Black.  I  thought  you  would  be  proud  and 
'aughty  by  this  time." 

"  Not  to  my  friends,"  she  murmured.  "Not  to  my 
friends.  I'm  always  the  same  and  I  never  forget, 
Rufus." 

"  Never  forget  what  ?  "  asked  Coleman. 

"  If  anybody  does  me  a  favour  I  never  forget  it  as 
long  as  I  live,"  she  answered  fervently. 

"  Oh,  you  mustn't  be  so  sentimental,  Nora.  You 
remember  that  play  you  bought  from  little  Ben  Whip- 
pie  just  because  he  had  once  sent  you  some  flowers  in 
the  old  days  when  you  were  poor  and  happened  to  be 
sick.  A  sense  of  gratitude  cost  you  over  eight  thou 
sand  dollars  that  time,  didn't  it?  "  Coleman  laughed 
heartily. 

"  Oh,  it  wasn't  the  flowers  at  all,"  she  interrupted 
seriously.  "  Of  course  Ben  was  always  a  nice  boy, 
but  then  his  play  was  worth  a  thousand  dollars. 
That's  all  I  gave  him.  I  lost  some  more  in  trying  to 
make  it  go.  But  it  was  too  good.  That  was  what 
was  the  matter.  It  was  altogether  too  good  for  the 
public.  I  felt  awfully  sorry  for  poor  little  Ben." 

"Too  good?"  sneered  Coleman.  "Too  good? 
Too  indifferently  bad,  you  mean.  My  dear  girl,  you 
mustn't  imagine  that  you  know  a  good  play.  You 
don't,  at  all." 

She  paused  abruptly  and  faced  him.  This  regal 
creature  was  looking  at  him  so  sternly  that  Coleman 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  61 

felt  awed  for  a  moment  as  if  he  were  in  the  presence 
of  a  great  mind.  "  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  I'm  not 
an  artist  ?  "  she  asked. 

Coleman  remained  cool.  "  I've  never  been  decor 
ated  for  informing  people  of  their  own  affairs,"  he 
observed,  "  but  I  should  say  that  you  were  about  as 
much  of  an  artist  as  I  am." 

Frowning  slightly,  she  reflected  upon  this  reply. 
Then,  of  a  sudden,  she  laughed.  "  There  is  no  use  in 
being  angry  with  you,  Rufus.  You  always  were  a 
hopeless  scamp.  But,"  she  added,  childishly  wistful, 
"  have  you  ever  seen  Fly  by  Night  ?  Don't  you  think 
my  dance  in  the  second  act  is  artistic?" 

"  No,"  said  Coleman,  "  I  haven't  seen  Fly  by  Night 
yet,  but  of  course  I  know  that  you  are  the  most 
beautiful  dancer  on  the  stage.  Everybody  knows  that." 

It  seemed  that  her  hand  tightened  on  his  arm.  Her 
face  was  radiant.  "  There,"  she  exclaimed.  "  Now 
you  are  forgiven.  You  are  a  nice  boy,  Rufus — some 
times." 

When  Miss  Black  went  to  her  cabin,  Coleman 
strolled  into  the  smoking  room.  Every  man  there 
covertly  or  openly  surveyed  him.  He  dropped  lazily 
into  a  chair  at  a  table  where  the  wine  merchant,  the 
Chicago  railway  king  and  the  New  York  millionaire 
were  playing  cards.  They  made  a  noble  pretense  of 
not  being  aware  of  him.  On  the  oilcloth  top  of  the 
table  the  cards  were  snapped  down,  turn  by  turn. 


62  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Finally  the  wine  merchant,  without  lifting  his  head 
to  address  a  particular  person,  said :  "  New  con 
quest." 

Hailing  a  steward  Coleman  asked  for  a  brandy  and 
soda. 

The  millionaire  said :  "  He's  a  sly  cuss,  anyhow." 
The  railway  man  grinned.  After  an  elaborate  silence 
the  wine  merchant  asked  :  "  Know  Miss  Black  long, 
Rufus  ?  "  Coleman  looked  scornfully  at  his  friends. 
"  What's  wrong  with  you  there,  fellows,  anyhow  ?  " 
The  Chicago  man  answered  airily.  "  Oh,  nothin'. 
Nothin',  whatever." 

At  dinner  in  the  crowded  salon,  Coleman  was  aware 
that  more  than  one  passenger  glanced  first  at  Nora 
Black  and  then  at  him,  as  if  connecting  them  in  some 
train  of  thought,  moved  to  it  by  the  narrow  horizon 
of  shipboard  and  by  a  sense  of  the  mystery  that  sur 
rounds  the  lives  of  the  beauties  of  the  stage.  Near 
the  captain's  right  hand  sat  the  glowing  and  splendid 
Nora,  exhibiting  under  the  gaze  of  the  persistent 
eyes  of  many  meanings,  a  practiced  and  profound 
composure  that  to  the  populace  was  terrfying  dignity. 

Strolling  toward  the  smoking  room  after  dinner, 
Coleman  met  the  New  York  millionaire,  who  seemed 
agitated.  He  took  Coleman  fraternally  by  the  arm. 
"  Say,  old  man,  introduce  me,  won't  you  ?  I'm  crazy 
to  know  her." 

"  Do    you  mean   Miss     Black  ?  "  asked     Coleman. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  63 

"  Why,  I  don't  know  that  I  have  a  right.  Of  course, 
you  know,  she  hasn't  been  meeting  anybody  aboard. 
I'll  ask  her,  though — certainly." 

"  Thanks,  old  man,  thanks.  I'd  be  tickled  to  death. 
Come  along  and  have  a  drink.  When  will  you  ask 
her?" 

"Why,  I  don't  know  when  I'll  see  her.  To-morrow, 
I  suppose ' 

They  had  not  been  long  in  the  smoking  room,  how 
ever,  when  the  deck  steward  came  with  a  card  to 
Coleman.  Upon  it  was  written:  "Come  for  a 
stroll  ?  "  Everybody  saw  Coleman  read  this  card  and 
then  look  up  and  whisper  to  the  deck  steward.  The 
deck  steward  bent  his  head  and  whispered  discreetly 
in  reply.  There  was  an  abrupt  pause  in  the  hum  of 
conversation.  The  interest  was  acute. 

Coleman  leaned  carelessly  back  in  his  chair,  puffing 
at  his  cigar.  He  mingled  calmly  in  a  discussion  of  the 
comparative  merits  of  certain  trans-Atlantic  lines. 
After  a  time  he  threw  away  his  cigar  and  arose.  Men 
nodded.  "Didn't  I  tell  you?"  His  studiously 
languid  exit  was  made  dramatic  by  the  eagle-eyed  at 
tention  of  the  smoking  room. 

On  deck,  he  found  Nora  pacing  to  and  fro.  "  You 
didn't  hurry  yourself,"  she  said,  as  he  joined  her.  The 
lights  of  Queenstown  were  twinkling.  A  warm  wind, 
wet  with  the  moisture  of  rain-stricken  sod,  was  coming 
from  the  land. 


64  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"Why,"  said  Coleman,  "we've  got  all  these  duffers 
very  much  excited." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  care  ?  "  asked  the  girl.  "  You 
don't  care,  do  you  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't  care.  Only  it's  rather  absurd  to  be 
watched  all  the  time."  He  said  this  precisely  as  if  he 
abhorred  being  watched  in  this  case.  "  Oh,  by  the 
way,"  he  added.  Then  he  paused  for  a  moment. 
"  Aw — a  friend  of  mine — not  a  bad  fellow — he  asked 
me  for  an  introduction.  Of  course,  I  told  him  I'd 
ask  you." 

She  made  a  contemptuous  gesture.  "  Oh,  another 
Willie.  Tell  him  no.  Tell  him  to  go  home  to  his 
family.  Tell  him  to  run  away." 

"  He  isn't  a  bad  fellow.  He —  '  said  Coleman 
diffidently,  "  he  would  probably  be  at  the  theatre 
every  night  in  a  box." 

"  Yes,  and  get  drunk  and  throw  a  wine  bottle  on 
the  stage  instead  of  a  bouquet.  No,"  she  declared 
positively,  "  I  won't  see  him." 

Coleman  did  not  seem  to  be  oppressed  by  this 
ultimatum.  "  Oh,  all  right.  I  promised  him — that 
was  all." 

"  Besides,  are  you  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  rid  of 
me?" 

"Rid    of   you?     Nonsense." 

They  walked  in  the  shadows.  "  How  long  are  you 
going  to  be  in  London,  Rufus  ?  "  asked  Nora  softly. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  6$ 

"Who?  I?  Oh,  I'm  going  right  off  to  Greece. 
First  train.  There's  going  to  be  a  war,  you  know." 

"  A  war  ?  Why,  who  is  going  to  fight  ?  The 
Greeks  and  the — the — the  what?  " 

"  The  Turks.     I'm  going  right  over  there." 

"  Why,  that's  dreadful,  Rufus,"  said  the  girl, 
mournful  and  shocked.  "You  might  get  hurt  or 
something."  Presently  she  asked  :  "  And  aren't  you 
going  to  be  in  London  any  time  at  all  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  he  answered,  puffing  out  his  lips,  "  I  may 
stop  in  London  for  three  or  four  days  on  my  way 
home.  I'm  not  sure  of  it." 

"  And  when  will  that  be  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  can't  tell.  It  may  be  in  three  or  four  months, 
or  it  may  be  a  year  from  now.  When  the  war  stops." 

There  was  a  long  silence  as  they  walked  up  and 
down  the  swaying  deck. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Nora  at  last,  "  I  like  you, 
Rufus  Coleman.  I  don't  know  any  good  reason  for  it, 
either,  unless  it  is  because  you  are  such  a  brute.  Now, 
when  I  was  asking  you  if  you  were  to  be  in  London, 
you  were  perfectly  detestable.  You  knew  I  was 
anxious." 

"I— detestable?"  cried  Coleman,  feigning  amaze 
ment.  "  Why,  what  did  I  say  ?  " 

"  It  isn't  so  much  what  you  said—  "  began  Nora 
slowly.  Then  she  suddenly  changed  her  manner. 
"  Oh,  well,  don't  let's  talk  about  it  any  more.  It's 


66  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

too  foolish.     Only — you    are   a   disagreeable   person 
sometimes." 

In  the  morning,  as  the  vessel  steamed  up  the  Irish 
channel,  Coleman  was  on  deck,  keeping  furtive  watch 
on  the  cabin  stairs.  After  two  hours  of  waiting,  he 
scribbled  a  message  on  a  card  and  sent  it  below.  He 
received  an  answer  that  Miss  Black  had  a  headache, 
and  felt  too  ill  to  come  on  deck.  He  went  to  the 
smoking  room.  The  three  card-players  glanced  up, 
grinning.  "  What's  the  matter  ?  "  asked  the  wine  mer 
chant.  "  You  look  angry."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Cole 
man  had  purposely  wreathed  his  features  in  a  pleasant 
and  satisfied  expression,  so  he  was  for  a  moment  furi 
ous  at  the  wine  merchant. 

"  Confound  the  girl,"  he  thought  to  himself.  "  She 
has  succeeded  in  making  all  these  beggars  laugh  at 
me."  He  mused  that  if  he  had  another  chance  he 
would  show  her  how  disagreeable  or  detestable  or 
scampish  he  was  under  some  circumstances.  He  re 
flected  ruefully  that  the  complacence  with  which  he 
had  accepted  the  comradeship  of  the  belle  of  the  voy 
age  might  have  been  somewhat  overdone.  Perhaps 
he  had  got  a  little  out  of  proportion.  He  was  an 
noyed  at  the  stares  of  the  other  men  in  the  smoking 
room,  who  seemed  now  to  be  reading  his  discomfiture. 
As  for  Nora  Black  he  thought  of  her  wistfully  and 
angrily  as  a  superb  woman  whose  company  was  hon 
our  and  joy,  a  payment  for  any  sacrifices. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  67 

"  What's  the  matter?  "  persisted  the  wine  merchant. 
"  You  look  grumpy." 

Coleman  laughed.     "  Do  I  ?  " 

At  Liverpool,  as  the  steamer  was  being  slowly 
warped  to  the  landing  stage  by  some  tugs,  the  passen 
gers  crowded  the  deck  with  their  hand-bags.  Adieus 
were  falling  as  dead  leaves  fall  from  a  great  tree. 
The  stewards  were  handling  small  hills  of  luggage 
marked  with  flaming  red  labels.  The  ship  was  firmly 
against  the  dock  before  Miss  Black  came  from  her 
cabin.  Coleman  was  at  the  time  gazing  shoreward, 
but  his  three  particular  friends  instantly  nudged  him. 
"What?"  "There  she  is?"  "Oh,  Miss  Black?" 
He  composedly  walked  toward  her.  It  was  impossible 
to  tell  whether  she  saw  him  coming  or  whether  it  was 
accident,  but  at  any  rate  she  suddenly  turned  and 
moved  toward  the  stern  of  the  ship.  Ten  watchful 
gossips  had  noted  Coleman's  travel  in  her  direction 
and  more  than  half  the  passengers  noted  his  defeat. 
He  wheeled  casually  and  returned  to  his  three  friends. 
They  were  colic-stricken  with  a  coarse  and  yet  silent 
merriment.  Coleman  was  glad  that  the  voyage  was 
over. 

After  the  polite  business  of  an  English  custom 
house,  the  travellers  passed  out  to  the  waiting  train. 
A  nimble  little  theatrical  agent  of  some  kind,  sent 
from  London,  dashed  forward  to  receive  Miss  Black. 
He  had  a  first-class  compartment  engaged  for  her 


68  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

and  he  bundled  her  and  her  maid  into  it  in  an  exuber 
ance  of  enthusiasm  and  admiration.  Coleman  passing 
moodily  along  the  line  of  coaches  heard  Nora's  voice 
hailing  him. 

"  Rufus."  There  she  was,  framed  in  a  carriage 
window,  beautiful  and  smiling  brightly.  Every  near 
by  person  turned  to  contemplate  this  vision. 

"  Oh,"  said  Coleman  advancing,  "  I  thought  I  was 
not  going  to  get  a  chance  to  say  good-bye  to  you." 
He  held  out  his  hand.  "  Good-bye." 

She  pouted.  "  Why,  there's  plenty  of  room  in  this 
compartment."  Seeing  that  some  forty  people  were 
transfixed  in  observation  of  her,  she  moved  a  short 
way  back.  "  Come  on  in  this  compartment,  Rufus," 
she  said. 

"  Thanks.  I  prefer  to  smoke,"  said  Coleman.  He 
went  off  abruptly. 

On  the  way  to  London,  he  brooded  in  his  corner 
on  the  two  divergent  emotions  he  had  experienced 
when  refusing  her  invitation.  At  Euston  Station  in 
London,  he  was  directing  a  porter,  who  had  his  lug 
gage,  when  he  heard  Nora  speak  at  his  shoulder. 
"  Well,  Rufus,  you  sulky  boy,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  be 
at  the  Cecil.  If  you  have  time,  come  and  see  me." 

"  Thanks,  I'm  sure,  my  dear  Nora,"  answered 
Coleman  effusively.  "  But  honestly,  I'm  off  for 
Greece." 

A  brougham  was  drawn  up  near  them  and  the  nimble 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  69 

little  agent  was  waiting.  The  maid  was  directing  the 
establishment  of  a  mass  of  luggage  on  and  in  a  four- 
wheeler  cab.  "  Well,  put  me  into  my  carriage,  any 
how,"  said  Nora.  "  You  will  have  time  for  that." 

Afterward  she  addressed  him  from  the  dark  interior. 
"  Now,  Rufus,  you  must  come  to  see  me  the  minute 
you  strike  London  again—"  She  hesitated  a  mo- 
ment,  and  then  smiling  gorgeously  upon  him,  she 
said  :  "  Brute  !  " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

As  soon  as  Coleman  had  planted  his  belongings  in 
a  hotel  he  was  bowled  in  a  hansom  briskly  along  the 
smoky  Strand,  through  a  dark  city  whose  walls 
dripped  like  the  walls  of  a  cave  and  whose  passages 
were  only  illuminated  by  flaring  yellow  and  red  signs. 

Walkley  the  London  correspondent  of  the  Eclipse, 
whirled  from  his  chair  with  a  shout  of  joy  and  relief 
at  sight  of  Coleman.  "  Cables/'  he  cried.  "Nothin* 
but  cables !  All  the  people  in  New  York  are  writing 
cables  to  you.  The  wires  groan  with  them.  And  we 
groan  with  them  too.  They  come  in  here  in  bales. 
However,  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  read 
them  all.  Many  are  similar  in  words  and  many 
more  are  similar  in  spirit.  The  sense  of  the  whole 
thing  is  that  you  get  to  Greece  quickly,  taking  with 
you  immense  sums  of  money  and  enormous  powers 
over  nations." 

"  Well,  when  does  the  row  begin  ?  " 

"  The  most  astute  journalists  in  Europe  have  been 
predicting  a  general  European  smash-up  every  year 
since  1878,"  said  Walkley,  "  and  the  prophets  weep. 
The  English  are  the  only  people  who  can  pull  off 
wars  on  schedule  time,  and  they  have  to  do  it  in  odd 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  71 

corners  of  the  globe.  I  fear  the  war  business  is 
getting  tuckered.  There  is  sorrow  in  the  lodges  of 
the  lone  wolves,  the  war  correspondents.  How 
ever,  my  boy,  don't  bury  your  face  in  your  blanket. 
This  Greek  business  looks  very  promising,  very  prom 
ising."  He  then  began  to  proclaim  trains  and  con 
nections.  "  Dover,  Calais,  Paris,  Brindisi,  Corfu, 
Patras,  Athens.  That  is  your  game.  You  are  sup 
posed  to  sky-rocket  yourself  over  that  route  in  the 
shortest  possible  time,  but  you  wo.uld  gain  no  time  by 
starting  before  to-morrow,  so  you  can  cool  your  heels 
here  in  London  until  then.  I  wish  I  was  going  along." 

Coleman  returned  to  his  hotel,  a  knight  impatient 
and  savage  at  being  kept  for  a  time  out  of  the  saddle. 
He  went  for  a  late  supper  to  the  grill  room  and  as  he 
was  seated  there  alone,  a  party  of  four  or  five  people 
came  to  occupy  the  table  directly  behind  him.  They 
talked  a  great  deal  even  before  they  arrayed  them 
selves  at  the  table,  and  he  at  once  recognised  the  voice 
of  Nora  Black.  She  was  queening  it,  apparently, 
over  a  little  band  of  awed  masculine  worshippers. 

Either  by  accident  or  for  some  curious  reason,  she 
took  a  chair  back  to  back  with  Coleman's  chair.  Her 
sleeve  of  fragrant  stuff  almost  touched  his  shoulder 
and  he  felt  appealing  to  him  seductively  a  perfume  of 
orris  root  and  violet.  He  was  drinking  bottled  stout 
with  his  chop  ;  he  sat  with  a  face  of  wood. 

"  Oh,  the  little  lord  ?  "  Nora  was  crying  to  some  slave. 


72  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"Now,  do  you  know,  he  won't  do  at  all.  He  is  too 
awfully  charming.  He  sits  and  ruminates  for  fifteen 
minutes  and  then  he  pays  me  a  lovely  compliment. 
Then  he  ruminates  for  another  fifteen  minutes  and 
cooks  up  another  fine  thing.  It  is  too  tiresome.  Do 
you  know  what  kind  of  man  I  like  ?  "  she  asked  softly 
and  confidentially.  And  here  she  sank  back  in  her 
chair  until  Coleman  knew  from  the  tingle  that  her 
head  was  but  a  few  inches  from  his  head.  Her  sleeve 
touched  him.  He  turned  more  wooden  under  the 
spell  of  the  orris  root  and  violet.  Her  courtiers 
thought  it  all  a  graceful  pose,  but  Coleman  believed 
otherwise.  Her  voice  sank  to  the  liquid  siren  note  of 
a  succubus.  "  Do  you  know  what  kind  of  a  man  I 
like?  Really  like  ?  I  like  a  man  that  a  woman  can't 
bend  in  a  thousand  different  ways  in  five  minutes. 
He  must  have  some  steel  in  him.  He  obliges  me  to 
admire  him  the  most  when  he  remains  stolid ;  stolid 
to  me  lures.  Ah,  that  is  the  only  kind  of  a  man  who 
can  ever  break  a  heart  among  us  women  of  the  world. 
His  stolidity  is  not  real ;  no  ;  it  is  mere  art,  but  it  is  a 
highly  finished  art  and  often  enough  we  can't  cut 
through  it.  Really  we  can't.  And  then  we  may 
actually  come  to — er — care  for  the  man.  Really  we 
may.  Isn't  it  funny  ?  " 

At  the  end  Coleman  arose  and  strolled  out  of  the 
room,  smoking  a  cigarette.  He  did  not  betray  a 
sign.  Before  the  door  clashed  softly  behind  him, 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  73 

Nora  laughed  a  little  defiantly,  perhaps  a  little  loudly. 
It  made  every  man  in  the  grill-room  perk  up  his  ears. 
As  for  her  courtiers,  they  were  entranced.  In  her 
description  of  the  conquering  man,  she  had  easily  con 
trived  that  each  one  of  them  wondered  if  she  might 
not  mean  him.  Each  man  was  perfectly  sure  that  he 
had  plenty  of  steel  in  his  composition  and  that  seemed 
to  be  a  main  point. 

Coleman  delayed  for  a  time  in  the  smoking  room 
and  then  went  to  his  own  quarters.  In  reality  he  was 
somewhat  puzzled  in  his  mind  by  a  projection  of  the 
beauties  of  Nora  Black  upon  his  desire  for  Greece  and 
Marjory.  His  thoughts  formed  a  duality.  Once  he 
was  on  the  point  of  sending  his  card  to  Nora  Black's 
parlour,  inasmuch  as  Greece  was  very  distant  and  he 
could  not  start  until  the  morrow.  But  he  suspected 
that  he  was  holding  the  interest  of  the  actress  because 
of  his  recent  appearance  of  impregnable  serenity  in 
the  presence  of  her  fascinations.  If  he  now  sent  his 
card,  it  was  a  form  of  surrender  and  he  knew  her  to  be 
one  to  take  a  merciless  advantage.  He  would  not 
make  this  tactical  mistake.  On  the  contrary  he  would 
go  to  bed  and  think  of  war. 

In  reality  he  found  it  easy  to  fasten  his  mind  upon 
the  prospective  war.  He  regarded  himself  cynically 
in  most  affairs,  but  he  could  not  be  cynical  of  war, 
because  had  he  seen  none  of  it.  His  rejuvenated 
imagination  began  to  thrill  to  the  roll  of  battle, 


74  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

through  his  thought  passing  all  the  lightning  in  the 
pictures  of  Detaille,  de  Neuville  and  Morot ;  lashed 
battery  horse  roaring  over  bridges ;  grand  cuirassiers 
dashing  headlong  against  stolid  invincible  red-faced 
lines  of  German  infantry  ;  furious  and  bloody  grap- 
plings  in  the  streets  of  little  villages  of  northeastern 
France.  There  was  one  thing  at  least  of  which  he 
could  still  feel  the  spirit  of  a  debutante.  In  this  mat 
ter  of  war  he  was  not,  too,  unlike  a  young  girl  embark 
ing  upon  her  first  season  of  opera.  Walkely,  the  next 
morning,  saw  this  mood  sitting  quaintly  upon  Cole- 
man  and  cackled  with  astonishment  and  glee.  Cole- 
man's  usual  manner  did  not  return  until  he  detected 
Walkely's  appreciation  of  his  state  and  then  he 
snubbed  him  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Sunday 
editor  of  the  New  York  Eclipse.  Parenthetically,  it 
might  be  said  that  if  Coleman  now  recalled  Nora 
Black  to  his  mind  at  all,  it  was  only  to  think  of  her 
for  a  moment  with  ironical  complacence.  He  had 
beaten  her. 

When  the  train  drew  out  of  the  station,  Coleman 
felt  himself  thrill.  Was  ever  fate  less  perverse  ?  War 
and  love — war  and  Marjory — were  in  conjunction — 
both  in  Greece — and  he  could  tilt  with  one  lance  at 
both  gods.  It  was  a  great  fine  game  to  play  and  no 
man  was  ever  so  blessed  in  vacations.  He  was  smil 
ing  continually  to  himself  and  sometimes  actually  on 
the  point  of  talking  aloud.  This  was  despite  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  75 

presence  in  the  compartment  of  two  fellow  passengers 
who  preserved  in  their  uncomfortably  rigid,  icy  and 
uncompromising  manners  many  of  the  more  or  less 
ridiculous  traditions  of  the  English  first  class  carriage. 
Coleman's  fine  humour  betrayed  him  once  into  address 
ing  one  of  these  passengers  and  the  man  responded 
simply  with  a  wide  look  of  incredulity,  as  if  he  discov 
ered  that  he  was  travelling  in  the  same  compartment 
with  a  zebu.  It  turned  Coleman  suddenly  to  evil 
temper  and  he  wanted  to  ask  the  man  questions  con 
cerning  his  education  and  his  present  mental  condi 
tion  :  and  so  until  the  train  arrived  at  Dover,  his 
ballooning  soul  was  in  danger  of  collapsing.  On  the 
packet  crossing  the  channel,  too,  he  almost  returned 
to  the  usual  Rufus  Coleman  since  all  the  world  was 
seasick  and  he  could  not  get  a  cabin  in  which  to  hide 
himself  from  it.  However  he  reaped  much  consola 
tion  by  ordering  a  bottle  of  champagne  and  drinking  it 
in  sight  of  the  people,  which  made  them  still  more 
seasick.  From  Calais  to  Brindisi  really  nothing  met 
his  disapproval  save  the  speed  of  the  train,  the  con 
duct  of  some  of  the  passengers,  the  quality  of  the  food 
served,  the  manners  of  the  guards,  the  temperature 
of  the  carriages,  the  prices  charged  and  the  length 
of  the  journey. 

In  time  he  passed    as   in  a  vision    from    wretched 
Brindisi  to  charming  Corfu,  from  Corfu  to  the  little 


76  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

war-bitten  city  of  Patras  and  from  Patras  by  rail  at 
the  speed  of  an  ox-cart  to  Athens. 

With  a  smile  of  grim  content  and  surrounded  in  his 
carnage  with  all  his  beautiful  brown  luggage,  he 
swept  through  the  dusty  streets  of  the  Greek  capital. 
Even  as  the  vehicle  arrived  in  a  great  terraced  square 
in  front  of  the  yellow  palace,  Greek  recruits  in  gar 
ments  representing  many  trades  and  many  characters 
were  marching  up  cheering  for  Greece  and  the  king. 
Officers  stood  upon  the  little  iron  chairs  in  front  of  the 
cafes  ;  all  the  urchins  came  running  and  shouting ; 
ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs  from  the  balconies ; 
the  whole  city  was  vivified  with  a  leaping  and  joyous 
enthusiasm.  The  Athenians — as  dragomen  or  other 
wise — had  preserved  an  ardor  for  their  glorious  tradi 
tions,  and  it  was  as  if  that  in  the  white  dust  which 
lifted  from  the  plaza  and  floated  across  the  old-ivory 
face  of  the  palace,  there  were  the  souls  of  the  capable 
soldiers  of  the  past.  Coleman  was  almost  intoxicated 
with  it.  It  seemed  to  celebrate  his  own  reasons,  his 
reasons  of  love  and  ambition  to  conquer  in  love. 

When  the  carriage  arrived  in  front  of  the  Hotel 
D'Angleterre,  Coleman  found  the  servants  of  the 
place  with  more  than  one  eye  upon  the  scene  in  the 
plaza,  but  they  soon  paid  heed  to  the  arrival  of  a  gen 
tleman  with  such  an  amount  of  beautiful  leather  lug 
gage,  all  marked  boldly  with  the  initials  "  R.  C." 
Coleman  let  them  lead  him  and  follow  him  and  con- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  77 

duct  him  and  use  bad  English  upon  him  without 
noting  either  their  words,  their  salaams  or  their  work. 
His  mind  had  quickly  fixed  upon  the  fact  that  here 
was  the  probable  headquarters  of  the  Wainwright 
party  and,  with  the  rush  of  his  western  race  fleeting 
through  his  veins,  he  felt  that  he  would  choke  and  die 
if  he  did  not  learn  of  the  Wainwrights  in  the  first  two 
minutes.  It  was  a  tragic  venture  to  attempt  to  make  the 
Levantine  mind  understand  something  off  the  course, 
that  the  new  arrival's  first  thought  was  to  establish 
a  knowlege  of  the  whereabouts  of  some  of  his  friends 
rather  than  to  swarm  helter-skelter  into  that  part  of  the 
hotel  for  which  he  was  willing  to  pay  rent.  In  fact  he 
failed  to  thus  impress  them  ;  failed  in  dark  wrath, 
but,  nevertheless,  failed.  At  last  he  was  simply  forced 
to  concede  the  travel  of  files  of  men  up  the  broad,  red- 
carpeted  stair-case,  each  man  being  loaded  with  Cole- 
man's  luggage.  The  men  in  the  hotel-bureau  were 
then  able  to  comprehend  that  the  foreign  gentleman 
might  have  something  else  on  his  mind.  They  raised 
their  eye-brows  languidly  when  he  spoke  of  the  Wain 
wright  party  in  gentle  surprise  that  he  had  not  yet 
learned  that  they  were  gone  some  time.  They  were  de 
parted  on  some  excursion.  Where  ?  Oh,  really — it  was 
almost  laughable,  indeed — they  didn't  know.  Were 
they  sure?  Why,  yes — it  was  almost  laughable,  indeed 
—they  were  quite  sure.  Where  could  the  gentleman 
find  out  about  them  ?  Well,  they — as  they  had  ex- 


78  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

plained — did  not  know,  but — it  was  possible — the 
American  minister  might  know.  Where  was  he  to  be 
found  ?  Oh,  that  was  very  simple.  It  was  well  known 
that  the  American  minister  had  apartments  in  the 
hotel.  Was  he  in  ?  Ah,  that  they  could  not  say. 

So  Coleman,  rejoicing  at  his  final  emancipation  and 
with  the  grime  of  travel  still  upon  him,  burst  in  some 
what  violently  upon  the  secretary  of  the  Hon.  Thomas 
M.  Gordner  of  Nebraska,  the  United  States  minister 
to  Greece.  From  his  desk  the  secretary  arose  from 
behind  an  accidental  bulwark  of  books  and  gover- 
mental  pamphets.  "  Yes,  certainly.  Mr.  Gordner  is 
in.  If  you  would  give  me  your  card " 

Directly,  Coleman  was  introduced  into  another 
room  where  a  quiet  man  who  was  rolling  a  cigarette 
looked  him  frankly  but  carefully  in  the  eye.  "  The 
Wainwrights  ? "  said  the  minister  immediately  after 
the  question.  "  Why,  I  myself  am  immensely  con 
cerned  about  them  at  present.  I'm  afraid  they've 
gotten  themselves  into  trouble/ 

"  Really  ?  "  said  Coleman. 

"  Yes.  That  little  professor  is  rather — er — stub 
born  ;  Isn't  he  ?  He  wanted  to  make  an  expedition 
to  Nikopolis  and  I  explained  to  him  all  the  possi 
bilities  of  war  and  begged  him  to  at  least  not  take  his 
wife  and  daughter  with  him." 

"  Daughter,"  murmured  Coleman,  as  if  in  his  sleep. 

"  But  that  little  old  man  had  a  head  like  a  stone 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  79 

and  only  laughed  at  me.  Of  course  those  villainous 
young  students  were  only  too  delighted  at  a  prospect 
of  war,  but  it  was  a  stupid  and  absurd  thing  for  the 
man  to  take  his  wife  and  daughter  there.  They 
are  up  there  now.  I  can't  get  a  word  from  them  or 
get  a  word  to  them." 

Coleman  had  been  choking.  "  Where  is  Nikop- 
olis?"  he  asked. 

The  minister  gazed  suddenly  in  comprehension  of 
the  man  before  him.  "  Nikopolis  is  in  Turkey,"  he 
answered  gently. 

Turkey  at  that  time  was  believed  to  be  a  country  of 
delay,  corruption,  turbulence  and  massacre.  It  meant 
everything.  More  than  a  half  of  the  Christians  of  the 
world  shuddered  at  the  name  of  Turkey.  Coleman's 
lips  tightened  and  perhaps  blanched,  and  his  chin 
moved  out  strangely,  once,  twice,  thrice.  "  How  can 
I  get  to  Nikopolis?  "  he  said. 

The  minister  smiled.  "  It  would  take  you  the 
better  part  of  four  days  if  you  could  get  there,  but  as 
a  matter  of  fact  you  can't  get  there  at  the  present 
time.  A  Greek  army  and  a  Turkish  army  are  looking 
at  each  other  from  the  sides  of  the  river  at  Arta — the 
river  is  there  the  frontier — and  Nikopolis  happens  to  be 
on  the  wrong  side.  You  can't  reach  them.  The  forces 
at  Arta  will  fight  within  three  days.  I  know  it.  Of 
course  I've  notified  our  legation  at  Constantinople, 
but,  with  Turkish  methods  of  communication,  Nikop- 


8o  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

olis  is  about  as  far  from  Constantinople  as  New 
York  is  from  Pekin." 

Coleman  arose.  "They've  run  themselves  into  a 
nice  mess,"  he  said  crossly.  "  Well,  I'm  a  thousand 
times  obliged  to  you,  I'm  sure." 

The  minister  opened  his  eyes  a  trifle.  "You  are 
not  going  to  try  to  reach  them,  are  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Coleman,  abstractedly.  "  I'm 
going  to  have  a  try  at  it.  Friends  of  mine,  you 
know — 

At  the  bureau  of  the  hotel,  the  correspondent 
found  several  cables  awaiting  him  from  the  alert 
office  of  the  New  York  Eclipse.  One  of  them  read  : 
"  State  Department  gives  out  bad  plight  of  Wainwright 
party  lost  somewhere  ;  find  them.  Eclipse"  When 
Coleman  perused  the  message  he  began  to  smile  with 
seraphic  bliss.  Could  fate  have  ever  been  less  per 
verse. 

Whereupon  he  whirled  himself  in  Athens.  And 
it  was  to  the  considerable  astonishment  of  some 
Athenians.  He  discovered  and  instantly  subsidised  a 
young  Englishman  who,  during  his  absence  at  the 
front,  would  act  as  correspondent  for  the  Eclipse  at 
the  capital.  He  took  unto  himself  a  dragoman  and 
then  bought  three  horses  and  hired  a  groom  at  a  speed 
that  caused  a  little  crowd  at  the  horse  dealer's  place  to 
come  out  upon  the  pavement  and  watch  this  surprising 
young  man  ride  back  toward  his  hotel.  He  had 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  81 

already  driven  his  dragoman  into  a  curious  state  of 
Oriental  bewilderment  and  panic  in  which  he  could 
only  lumber  hastily  and  helplessly  here  and  there, 
with  his  face  in  the  meantime  marked  with  agony. 
Coleman's  own  field  equipment  had  been  ordered 
by  cable  from  New  York  to  London,  but  it  was  nec 
essary  to  buy  much  tinned  meats,  chocolate,  coffee, 
candles,  patent  food,  brandy,  tobaccos,  medicine  and 
other  things. 

He  went  to  bed  that  night  feeling  more  placid. 
The  train  back  to  Patras  was  to  start  in  the  early 
morning,  and  he  felt  the  satisfaction  of  a  man  who  is 
at  last  about  to  start  on  his  own  great  quest.  Before 
he  dropped  off  to  slumber,  he  heard  crowds  cheering 
exultantly  in  the  streets,  and  the  cheering  moved  him 
as  it  had  done  in  the  morning.  He  felt  that  the  cele 
bration  of  the  people  was  really  an  accompaniment  to 
his  primal  reason,  a  reason  of  love  and  ambition  to 
conquer  in  love — even  as  in  the  theatre,  the  music  ac 
companies  the  hero  in  his  progress.  He  arose  once  dur 
ing  the  night  to  study  a  map  of  the  Balkan  peninsula 
and  get  nailed  into  his  mind  the  exact  position  of 
Nikopolis.  It  was  important. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

'CoLEMAN's  dragoman  aroused  him  in  the  blue  before 
dawn.  The  correspondent  arrayed  himself  in  one  of 
his  new  khaki  suits — riding  breeches  and  a  tunic  well 
marked  with  buttoned  pockets — and  accompanied  by 
some  of  his  beautiful  brown  luggage,  they  departed 
for  the  station. 

The  ride  to  Patras  is  a  terror  under  ordinary  circum 
stances.  It  begins  in  the  early  morning  and  ends  in 
the  twilight.  To  Coleman,  having  just  come  from 
Patras  to  Athens,  this  journey  from  Athens  to  Patras 
had  all  the  exasperating  elements  of  a  forced  recanta 
tion.  Moreover,  he  had  not  come  prepared  to  view 
with  awe  the  ancient  city  of  Corinth  nor  to  view  with 
admiration  the  limpid  beauties  of  the  gulf  of  that  name 
with  its  olive  grove  shore.  He  was  not  stirred  by  Par 
nassus,  a  far-away  snow-field  high  on  the  black  shoulders 
of  the  mountains  across  t'he  gulf.  No ;  he  wished  to  go 
to  Nikopolis.  He  passed  over  the  graves  of  an 
ancient  race  the  gleam  of  whose  mighty  minds  shot, 
hardly  dimmed,  through  the  clouding  ages.  No ;  he 
wished  to  go  to  Nikopolis.  The  train  went  at  a 
snail's  pace,  and  if  Coleman  had  an  interest  it  was 
in  the  people  who  lined  the  route  and  cheered 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  83 

the  soldiers  on  the  train.  In  Coleman's  compart 
ment  there  was  a  greasy  person  who  spoke  a  little 
English.  He  explained  that  he  was  a  poet,  a 
poet  who  now  wrote  of  nothing  but  war.  When  a 
man  is  in  pursuit  of  his  love  and  success  is  known  to 
be  at  least  remote,  it  often  relieves  his  strain  if  he  is 
deeply  bored  from  time  to  time. 

The  train  was  really  obliged  to  arrive  finally  at 
Patras  even  if  it  was  a  tortoise,  and  when  this  hap 
pened,  a  hotel  runner  appeared,  who  lied  for  the  bene 
fit  of  the  hotel  in  saying  that  there  was  no  boat  over 
to  Mesalonghi  that  night.  When,  all  too  late,  Cole- 
man  discovered  the  truth  of  the  matter  his  wretched 
dragoman  came  in  for  a  period  of  infamy  and  suffer 
ing.  However,  while  strolling  in  the  plaza  at  Patras, 
amid  newsboys  from  every  side, by  rumour  and  truth, 
Coleman  learned  things  to  his  advantage.  A  Greek 
fleet  was  bombarding  Prevasa.  Prevasa  was  near 
Nikopolis.  The  opposing  armies  at  Arta  were  en 
gaged,  principally  in  an  artillery  duel.  Arta  was  on 
the  road  from  Nikopolis  into  Greece.  Hearing  this 
news  in  the  sunlit  square  made  him  betray  no  weak 
ness,  but  in  the  darkness  of  his  room  at  the  hotel,  he 
seemed  to  behold  Marjory  encircled  by  insurmount 
able  walls  of  flame.  He  could  look  out  of  his  window 
into  the  black  night  of  the  north  and  feel  every  ounce 
of  a  hideous  circumstance.  It  appalled  him;  here 
was  no  power  of  calling  up  a  score  of  reporters  and 


84  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

sending  them  scampering  to  accomplish  everything. 
He  even  might  as  well  have  been  without  a  tongue  as 
far  as  it  could  serve  him  in  goodly  speech.  He  was 
alone,  confronting  the  black  ominous  Turkish  north 
behind  which  were  the  deadly  flames  ;  behind  the 
flames  was  Marjory.  It  worked  upon  him  until  he 
felt  obliged  to  call  in  his  dragoman,  and  then,  seated 
upon  the  edge  of  his  bed  and  ^waving  his  pipe  elo 
quently,  he  described  the  plight  of  some  very  dear 
friends  who  were  cut  off  at  Nikopolis  in  Epirus. 
Some  of  his  talk  was  almost  wistful  in  its  wish  for 
sympathy  from  his  servant,  but  at  the  end  he  bade 
the  dragoman  understand  that  he,  Coleman,  was  go 
ing  to  their  rescue,  and  he  defiantly  asked  the  hireling 
if  he  was  prepared  to  go  with  him.  But  he  did  not 
know  the  Greek  nature.  In  two  minutes  the  drago 
man  was  weeping  tears  of  enthusiasm,  and,  for  these 
tears,  Coleman  was  over-grateful,  because  he  had  not 
been  told  that  any  of  the  more  crude  forms  of  senti 
ment  arouse  the  common  Greek  to  the  highest  pitch, 
but  sometimes,  when  it  comes  to  what  the  Americans 
call  a  "  show  down,"  when  he  gets  backed  toward  his 
last  corner  with  a  solitary  privilege  of  dying  for  these 
sentiments,  perhaps  he  does  not  always  exhibit  those 
talents  which  are  supposed  to  be  possessed  by  the 
bulldog.  He  often  then,  goes  into  the  cafes  and  takes 
it  all  out  in  oration,  like  any  common  Parisian. 

In  the  morning  a  steamer  carried  them  across  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  85 

strait  and  landed  them  near  Mesalonghi  at  the  foot  of 
the  railroad  that  leads  to  Agrinion.  At  Agrinion 
Coleman  at  last  began  to  feel  that  he  was  nearing  his 
goal.  There  were  plenty  of  soldiers  in  the  town,  who 
received  with  delight  and  applause  this  gentleman  in 
the  distinguished-looking  khaki  clothes  with  his  re 
volver  and  his  field  glasses  and  his  canteen  and  his 
dragoman.  The  dragoman  lied,  of  course,  and  vocif 
erated  that  the  gentleman  in  the  distinguished-looking 
khaki  clothes  was  an  English  soldier  of  reputation, 
who  had,  naturally,  come  to  help  the  cross  in  its  fight 
against  the  crescent.  He  also  said  that  his  master  had 
three  superb  horses  coming  from  Athens  in  charge  of 
a  groom,  and  was  undoubtedly  going  to  join  the 
cavalry.  Whereupon  the  soldiers  wished  to  embrace 
and  kiss  the  gentleman  in  the  distinguished-looking 
khaki  clothes. 

There  was  more  or  less  of  a  scuffle.  Coleman  would 
have  taken  to  kicking  and  punching,  but  he  found  that 
by  a  series  of  elusive  movements  he  could  dodge  the 
demonstrations  of  affection  without  losing  his  popul 
arity.  Escorted  by  the  soldiers,  citizens,  children  and 
dogs,  he  went  to  the  diligence  which  was  to  take  him 
and  others  the  next  stage  of  the  journey.  As  the  dili 
gence  proceeded,  Coleman's  mind  suffered  another  lit 
tle  inroad  of  ill-fate  as  to  the  success  of  his  expedition. 
In  the  first  place  it  appeared  foolish  to  expect  that  this 
diligence  would  ever  arrive  anywhere.  Moreover,  the 


86  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

accommodations  were  about  equal  to  what  one  would 
endure  if  one  undertook  to  sleep  for  a  night  in  a  tree. 
Then  there  was  a  devil-dog,  a  little  black-and-tan  terrier 
in  a  blanket  gorgeous  .and  belled,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
stand  on  the  top  of  the  coach  and  bark  incessantly  to 
keep  the  driver  fully  aroused  to  the  enormity  of  his 
occupation.  To  have  this  cur  silenced  either  by 
strangulation  or  ordinary  clubbing,  Coleman  struggled 
with  his  dragoman  as  Jacob  struggled  with  the  angel, 
but  in  the  first  place,  the  dragoman  was  a  Greek  whose 
tongue  could  go  quite  drunk,  a  Greek  who  became  a 
slave  to  the  heralding  and  establishment  of  one  cer 
tain  fact,  or  lie,  and  now  he  was  engaged  in  describing 
to  every  village  and  to  all  the  country  side  the  prowess 
of  the  gentleman  in  the  distinguished-looking  khaki 
clothes.  It  was  the  general  absurdity  of  this  advance 
to  the  frontier  and  the  fighting,  to  the  crucial  place 
where  he  was  resolved  to  make  an  attempt  to  rescue 
his  sweetheart ;  it  was  this  ridiculous  aspect  that 
caused  to  come  to  Coleman  a  premonition  of  failure. 
No  knight  ever  went  out  to  recover  a  lost  love  in  such 
a  diligence  and  with  such  a  devil-dog,  tinkling  his 
little  bells  and  yelping  insanely  to  keep  the  driver 
awake. 

After  night-fall  they  arrived  at  a  town  on  the 
southern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Arta  and  the  goaded 
dragoman  was  thrust  forth  from  the  little  inn  into  the 
street  to  find  the  first  possible  means  of  getting  on  to 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  87 

Arta.  He  returned  at  last  to  tremulously  say  that 
there  was  no  single  chance  of  starting  for  Arta  that 
night.  Whereupon  he  was  again  thrust  into  the  street 
with  orders,  strict  orders.  In  due  time,  Coleman 
spread  his  rugs  upon  the  floor  of  his  little  room  and 
thought  himself  almost  asleep,  when  the  dragoman 
entered  with  a  really  intelligent  man  who,  for  some 
reason,  had  agreed  to  consort  with  him  in  the  bus 
iness  of  getting  the  stranger  off  to  Arta.  They  an 
nounced  that  there  was  a  brigantine  about  to  sail 
with  a  load  of  soldiers  for  a  little  port  near  Arta,  and 
if  Coleman  hurried  he  could  catch  it,  permission  from 
an  officer  having  already  been  obtained.  He  was  up 
at  once,  and  the  dragoman  and  the  unaccountably  in 
telligent  person  hastily  gathered  his  chattels.  Step 
ping  out  into  a  black  street  and  moving  to  the 
edge  of  black  water  and  embarking  in  a  black  boat 
filled  with  soldiers  whose  rifles  dimly  shone,  was  as 
impressive  to  Coleman  as  if,  really,  it  had  been  the 
first  start.  He  had  endured  many  starts,  it  was  true, 
but  the  latest  one  always  touched  him  as  being  con 
clusive. 

There  were  no  lights  on  the  brigantine  and  the  men 
swung  precariously  up  her  sides  to  the  deck  which 
was  already  occupied  by  a  babbling  multitude.  The 
dragoman  judiciously  found  a  place  for  his  master 
where  during  the  night  the  latter  had  to  move 
quickly  everytime  the  tiller  was  shifted  to  starboard. 


88  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  craft  raised  her  shadowy  sails  and  swung  slowly 
off  into  the  deep  gloom.  Forward,  some  of  the  sol 
diers  began  to  sing  weird  minor  melodies.  Coleman, 
enveloped  in  his  rugs,  smoked  three  or  four  cigars.  He 
was  content  and  miserable,  lying  there,  hearing  these 
melodies  which  defined  to  him  his  own  affairs. 

At  dawn  they  were  at  the  little  port.  First,  in  the 
carmine  and  grey  tints  from  a  sleepy  sun,  they 
could  see  little  mobs  of  soldiers  working  amid 
boxes  of  stores.  And  then  from  the  back  in  some 
dun  and  green  hills  sounded  a  deep-throated  thunder 
of  artillery  An  officer  gave  Coleman  and  his  drago 
man  positions  in  one  of  the  first  boats,  but  of  course 
it  could  not  be  done  without  an  almost  endless 
amount  of  palaver.  Eventually  they  landed  with  their 
traps.  Coleman  felt  through  the  sole  of  his  boot  his 
foot  upon  the  shore.  He  was  within  striking  dis 
tance. 

But  here  it  was  smitten  into  the  head  of  Coleman's 
servant  to  turn  into  the  most  inefficient  dragoman, 
probably  in  the  entire  East.  Coleman  discerned  it 
immediately,  before  any  blunder  could  tell  him.  He 
at  first  thought  that  it  was  the  voices  of  the  guns 
which  had  made  a  chilly  inside  for  the  man,  but  when 
he  reflected  upon  the  incompetency,  or  childish  cour 
ier's  falsity,  at  Patras  and  his  discernible  lack  of  sense 
from  Agrinion  onward,  he  felt  that  the  fault  was  ele 
mental  in  his  nature.  It  was  a  mere  basic  inability  to 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  89 

front  novel  situations  which  was  somehow  in  the 
dragoman  ;  he  retreated  from  everything  difficult  in 
a  smoke  of  gibberish  and  gesticulation.  Coleman 
glared  at  him  with  the  hatred  that  sometimes  ensues 
when  breed  meets  breed,  but  he  saw  that  this  man  was 
indeed  a  golden  link  in  his  possible  success.  This 
man  connected  him  with  Greece  and  its  language.  If 
he  destroyed  him  he  delayed  what  was  now  his  main 
desire  in  life.  However,  this  truth  did  not  prevent 
him  from  addressing  the  man  in  elegant  speech. 

The  two  little  men  who  were  induced  to  carry  Cole- 
man's  luggage  as  far  as  the  Greek  camp  were  really 
procured  by  the  correspondent  himself,  who  panto- 
mined  vigourously  and  with  unmistakable  vividness. 
Followed  by  his  dragoman  and  the  two  little  men,  he 
strode  off  along  a  road  which  led  straight  as  a  stick 
to  where  the  guns  were  at  intervals  booming.  Mean 
while  the  dragoman  and  the  two  little  men  talked, 
talked,  talked. — Coleman  was  silent,  puffing  his  cigar 
and  reflecting  upon  the  odd  things  which  happen  to 
chivalry  in  the  modern  age. 

He  knew  of  many  men  who  would  have  been  aston 
ished  if  they  could  have  seen  into  his  mind  at  that 
time,  and  he  knew  of  many  more  men  who  would  have 
laughed  if  they  had  the  same  privilege  of  sight.  He 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal  from  himself  that  the 
whole  thing  was  romantic,  romantic  despite  the  little 
tinkling  dog,  the  decrepit  diligence,  the  palavering 


90  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

natives,  the  super-idiotic  dragoman.  It  was  fine.  It 
was  from  another  age  and  even  the  actors  could  not 
deface  the  purity  of  the  picture.  However  it  was 
true  that  upon  the  brigantine  the  previous  night  he 
had  unaccountably  wetted  all  his  available  matches. 
This  was  momentous,  important,  cruel  truth,  but  Cole- 
man,  after  all,  was  taking — as  well  as  he  could  forget — 
a  solemn  and  knightly  joy  of  this  adventure  and  there 
were  as  many  portraits  of  his  lady  envisioning  before 
him  as  ever  held  the  heart  of  an  armour-encased  young 
gentleman  of  medieval  poetry.  If  he  had  been  travel 
ling  in  this  region  as  an  ordinary  tourist,  he  would 
have  been  apparent  mainly  for  his  lofty  impatience 
over  trifles,  but  now  there  was  in  him  a  positive  asser 
tion  of  direction  which  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
reasons  for  the  despair  of  the  accomplished  drago 
man. 

Before  them  the  country  slowly  opened  and  opened, 
the  straight  white  road  always  piercing  it  like  a  lance- 
shaft.  Soon  they  could  see  black  masses  of  men  mark 
ing  the  green  knolls.  The  artillery  thundered  loudly 
and  now  vibrated  augustly  through  the  air.  Coleman 
quickened  his  pace,  to  the  despair  of  the  little  men  carry 
ing  the  traps.  They  finally  came  up  with  one  of 
these  black  bodies  of  men  and  found  it  to  be  com 
posed  of  a  considerable  number  of  soldiers  who  were 
idly  watching  some  hospital  people  bury  a  dead  Turk. 
The  dragoman  at  once  dashed  forward  to  peer 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  91 

through  the  throng  and  see  the  face  of  the  corpse. 
Then  he  came  and  supplicated  Coleman  as  if  he  were 
hawking  him  to  look  at  a  relic  and  Coleman  moved 
by  a  strong,  mysterious  impulse,  went  forward  to  look 
at  the  poor  little  clay-coloured  body.  At  that  mo 
ment  a  snake  ran  out  from  a  tuft  of  grass  at  his  feet  and 
wriggled  wildly  over  the  sod.  The  dragoman  shrieked, 
of  course,  but  one  of  the  soldiers  put  his  heel  upon 
the  head  of  the  reptile  and  it  flung  itself  into  the 
agonising  knot  of  death.  Then  the  whole  crowd  pow 
wowed,  turning  from  the  dead  man  to  the  dead  snake. 
Coleman  signaled  his  contingent  and  proceeded  along 
the  road. 

This  incident,  this  paragraph,  had  seemed  a  strange 
introduction  to  war.  The  snake,  the  dead  man,  the 
entire  sketch,  made  him  shudder  of  itself,  but  more 
than  anything  he  felt  an  uncanny  symbolism.  It  was 
no  doubt  a  mere  occurrence ;  nothing  but  an  occur 
rence  ;  but  inasmuch  as  all  the  detail  of  this  daily  life 
associated  itself  with  Marjory,  he  felt  a  different  hor 
ror.  He  had  thought  of  the  little  devil-dog  and  Mar 
jory  in  an  interwoven  way.  Supposing  Marjory  had 
been  riding  in  the  diligence  with  the  devil-dog-a-top  ? 
What  would  she  have  said  ?  Of  her  fund  of  expres 
sions,  a  fund  uncountable,  which  would  she  have  in 
nocently  projected  against  the  background  of  the 
Greek  hills?  Would  it  have  smitten  her  nerves  badly 
or  would  she  have  laughed  ?  And  supposing  Marjory 


92  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

could  have  seen  him  in  his  new  khaki  clothes  cursing 
his  dragoman  as  he  listened  to  the  devil-dog  ? 

And  now  he  interwove  his  memory  of  Marjory  with 
a  dead  man  and  with  a  snake  in  the  throes  of  the  end 
of  life.  They  crossed,  intersected,  tangled,  these  two 
thoughts.  He  perceived  it  clearly  ;  the  incongruity 
of  it.  He  academically  reflected  upon  the  mysteries 
of  the  human  mind,  this  homeless  machine  which  lives 
here  and  then  there  and  often  lives  in  two  or  three 
opposing  places  at  the  same  instant.  He  decided  that 
the  incident  of  the  snake  and  the  dead  man  had  no 
more  meaning  than  the  greater  number  of  the  things 
which  happen  to  us  in  our  daily  lives.  Nevertheless 
it  bore  upon  him. 

On  a  spread  of  plain  they  saw  a  force  drawn  up  in  a 
long  line.  It  was  a  flagrant  inky  streak  on  the  ver 
dant  prairie.  From  somewhere  near  it  sounded  the 
timed  reverberations  of  guns.  The  brisk  walk  of  the 
next  ten  minutes  was  actually  exciting  to  Coleman. 
He  could  not  but  reflect  that  those  guns  were  being 
fired  with  serious  purpose  at  certain  human  bodies 
much  like  his  own. 

As  they  drew  nearer  they  saw  that  the  inky  streak 
was  composed  of  cavalry,  the  troopers  standing  at 
their  bridles.  The  sunlight  flicked  upon  their  bright 
weapons.  Now  the  dragoman  developed  in  one  of  his 
extraordinary  directions.  He  announced  forsooth 
that  an  intimate  friend  was  a  captain  of  cavalry  in  this 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  93 

command.  Coleman  at  first  thought  that  this  was 
some  kind  of  mysterious  lie,  but  when  he  arrived 
where  they  could  hear  the  stamping  of  hoofs,  the 
clank  of  weapons,  and  the  murmur  of  men,  behold,  a 
most  dashing  young  officer  gave  a  shout  of  joy  and  he 
and  the  dragoman  hurled  themselves  into  a  mad  em 
brace.  After  this  first  ecstacy  was  over,  the  dragoman 
bethought  him  of  his  employer,  and  looking  toward 
Coleman  hastily  explained  him  to  the  officer.  The 
latter,  it  appeared,  was  very  affable  indeed.  Much 
had  happened.  The  Greeks  and  the  Turks  had  been 
fighting  over  a  shallow  part  o(  the  river  nearly  oppo 
site  this  point  and  the  Greeks  had  driven  back  the 
Turks  and  succeeded  in  throwing  a  bridge  of  casks 
and  planking  across  the  stream.  It  was  now  the  duty 
and  the  delight  of  this  force  of  cavalry  to  cross  the 
bridge  and,  passing  the  little  force  of  covering  Greek 
infantry,  to  proceed  into  Turkey  until  they  came  in 
touch  with  the  enemy. 

Coleman's  eyes  dilated.  Was  ever  fate  less  per 
verse  ?  Partly  in  wretched  French  to  the  officer  and 
partly  in  idiomatic  English  to  the  dragoman,  he  pro 
claimed  his  fiery  desire  to  accompany  the  expedition. 
The  officer  immediately  beamed  upon  him.  In  fact, 
he  was  delighted.  The  dragoman  had  naturally  told 
him  many  falsehoods  concerning  Coleman,  incidentally 
referring  to  himself  more  as  a  philanthropic  guardian 
and  valuable  friend  of  the  correspondent  than  as  a 


94  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

plain,  unvarnished  dragoman  with  an  exceedingly 
good  eye  for  the  financial  possibilities  of  his  position. 

Coleman  wanted  to  ask  his  servant  if  there  was  any 
chance  of  the  scout  taking  them  near  Nikopolis,  but 
he  delayed  being  informed  upon  this  point  until  such 
time  as  he  could  find  out,  secretly,  for  himself.  To 
ask  the  dragoman  would  be  mere  stupid  questioning 
which  would  surely  make  the  animal  shy.  He  tried 
to  be  content  that  fate  had  given  him  this  early  oppor 
tunity  of  dealing  with  a  medieval  situation  with  some 
show  of  proper  form  ;  that  is  to  say,  armed,  a-horse- 
back,  and  in  danger.  Then  he  could  feel  that  to  the 
gods  of  the  game  he  was  riot  laughable,  as  when  he 
rode  to  rescue  his  love  in  a  diligence  with  a  devil-dog 
yelping  a-top. 

With  some  flourish,  the  young  captain  presented 
him  to  the  major  who  commanded  the  cavalry.  This 
officer  stood  with  his  legs  wide  apart,  eating  the  rind 
of  a  fresh  lemon  and  talking  betimes  to  some  of  his 
officers.  The  major  also  beamed  upon  Coleman  when 
the  captain  explained  that  the  gentleman  in  the  dis 
tinguished-looking  khaki  clothes  wished  to  accompany 
the  expedition.  He  at  once  said  that  he  would  pro 
vide  two  troop  horses  for  Coleman  and  the  dragoman. 
Coleman  thanked  fate  for  his  behaviour  and  his  satis 
faction  was  not  without  a  vestige  of  surprise.  At  that 
time  he  judged  it  to  be  a  remarkable  amiability  of 
individuals,  but  in  later  years  he  came  to  believe  in 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  95 

certain  laws  which  he  deemed  existent  solely  for  the 
benefit  of  war  correspondents.  In  the  minds  of  gov 
ernments,  war  offices  and  generals  they  have  no  func 
tion  save  one  of  disturbance,  but  Coleman  deemed  it 
proven  that  the  common  men,  and  many  uncommon 
men,  when  they  go  away  to  the  fighting  ground,  out 
of  the  sight,  out  of  the  hearing  of  the  world  known  to 
them,  and  are  eager  to  perform  feats  of  war  in  this 
new  place,  they  feel  an  absolute  longing  for  a  specta 
tor.  It  is  indeed  the  veritable  coronation  of  this 
world.  There  is  not  too  much  vanity  of  the  street  in 
this  desire  of  men  to  have  some  disinterested  fellows 
perceive  their  deeds.  It  is  merely  that  a  man  doing 
his  best  in  the  middle  of  a  sea  of  war,  longs  to  have 
people  see  him  doing  his  best.  This  feeling  is  often 
notably  serious  if,  in  peace,  a  man  has  done  his  worst, 
or  part  of  his  worst.  Coleman  believed  that,  above 
everybody,  young,  proud  and  brave  subalterns  had 
this  itch,  but  it  existed,  truly  enough,  from  lieutenants 
to  colonels.  None  wanted  to  conceal  from  his  left 
hand  that  his  right  hand  was  performing  a  manly  and 
valiant  thing,  although  there  might  be  times  when  an 
application  of  the  principle  would  be  immensely  con 
venient.  The  war  correspondent  arises,  then,  to  be 
come  a  sort  of  a  cheap  telescope  for  the  people  at 
home  ;  further  still,  there  have  been  fights  where  the 
eyes  of  a  solitary  man  were  the  eyes  of  the  world  ; 
one  spectator,  whose  business  it  was  to  transfer,  ac- 


96  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

cording  to  his  ability,  his  visual  impressions  to  other 
minds. 

Coleman  and  his  servant  were  conducted  to  two 
saddled  troop  horses,  and  beside  them,  waited  de 
cently  in  the  rear  of  the  ranks.  The  uniform  of  the 
troopers  was  of  plain,  dark  green  cloth  and  they  were 
well  and  sensibly  equipped.  The  mounts,  however, 
had  in  no  way  been  picked ;  there  were  little  horses 
and  big  horses,  fat  horses  and  thin  horses.  They 
looked  the  result  of  a  wild  conscription.  Coleman 
noted  the  faces  of  the  troopers,  and  they  were  calm 
enough  save  when  a  man  betrayed  himself  by  perhaps 
a  disproportionate  angry  jerk  at  the  bridle  of  his 
restive  horse. 

The  major,  artistically  drooping  his  cloak  from  his 
left  shoulder  and  tenderly  and  musingly  fingering  his 
long  yellow  moustache,  rode  slowly  to  the  middle  of  the 
line  and  wheeled  his  horse  to  face  his  men.  A  bugle 
called  attention,  and  then  he  addressed  them  in  a  loud 
and  rapid  speech,  which  did  not  seem  to  have  an  end. 
Coleman  imagined  that  the  major  was  paying  tribute 
to  the  Greek  tradition  of  the  power  of  oratory.  Again 
the  trumpet  rang  out,  and  this  parade  front  swung  off 
into  column  formation.  Then  Coleman  and  the  drago 
man  trotted  at  the  tail  of  the  squadron,  restraining 
with  difficulty  their  horses,  who  could  not  understand 
their  new  places  in  the  procession,  and  worked  fever 
ishly  to  regain  what  they  considered  their  positions  in 
life. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  97 

The  column  jangled  musically  over  the  sod,  passing 
between  two  hills  on  one  of  which  a  Greek  light  bat 
tery  was  posted.  Its  men  climbed  to  the  tops  of  their 
intrenchments  to  witness  the  going  of  the  cavalry. 
Then  the  column  curved  along  over  ditch  and  through 
hedge  to  the  shallows  of  the  river.  Across  this  narrow 
stream  was  Turkey.  Turkey,  however,  presented 
nothing  to  the  eye  but  a  muddy  bank  with  fringes  of 
trees  back  of  it.  It  seemed  to  be  a  great  plain  with 
sparse  collections  of  foliage  marking  it,  whereas  the 
Greek  side  presented  in  the  main  a  vista  of  high,  gaunt 
rocks.  Perhaps  one  of  the  first  effects  of  war  upon 
the  mind  is  a  new  recognition  and  fear  of  the  circum 
scribed  ability  of  the  eye,  making  all  landscape  seem 
inscrutable.  The  cavalry  drew  up  in  platoon  forma 
tion  on  their  own  bank  of  the  stream  and  waited.  If 
Coleman  had  known  anything  of  war,  he  would  have 
known,  from  appearances,  that  there  was  nothing  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  to  cause  heart-jumping,  but  as 
a  matter  of  truth  he  was  deeply  moved  and  wondered 
what  was  hidden,  what  was  veiled  by  those  trees. 
Moreover,  the  squadrons  resembled  an  old  picture  of  a 
body  of  horse  awaiting  Napoleon's  order  to  charge. 
In  the  meantime  his  mount  fumed  at  the  bit,  plunging 
to  get  back  to  the  ranks.  The  sky  was  without  a 
cloud,  and  the  sun  rays  swept  down  upon  them. 
Sometimes  Coleman  was  on  the  verge  of  addressing 
the  dragoman,  according  to  his  anxiety,  but  in  the  end 


98  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

he  simply  told  him  to  go  to  the  river  and  fill  the  can 
teens. 

At  last  an  order  came,  and  the  first  troop  moved 
with  muffled  tumult  across  the  bridge.  Coleman  and 
his  dragoman  followed  the  last  troop.  The  horses 
scrambled  up  the  muddy  bank  much  as  if  they  were 
merely  breaking  out  of  a  pasture,  but  probably  all  the 
men  felt  a  sudden  tightening  of  their  muscles.  Cole 
man,  in  his  excitement, felt,  more  than  he  saw,  glossy 
horse  flanks,  green-clothed  men  chumping  in  their 
saddles,  banging  sabres  and  canteens,  and  carbines 
slanted  in  line. 

There  were  some  Greek  infantry  in  a  trench.  They 
were  heavily  overcoated,  despite  the  heat,  and  some 
were  engaged  in  eating  loaves  of  round,  thick  bread. 
They  called  out  lustily  as  the  cavalry  passed  them. 
The  troopers  smiled  slowly,  somewhat  proudly  in 
response. 

Presently  there  was  another  halt  and  Coleman  saw 
the  major  trotting  busily  here  and  there,  while  troop 
commanders  rode  out  to  meet  him.  Spreading 
groups  of  scouts  and  flankers  moved  off  and  disap 
peared.  Their  dashing  young  officer  friend  cantered 
past  them  with  his  troop  at  his  heels.  He  waved  a 
joyful  good-bye.  It  was  the  doings  of  cavalry  in 
actual  service,  horsemen  fanning  out  in  all  forward 
directions.  There  were  two  troops  held  in  reserve, 
and  as  they  jangled  ahead  at  a  foot  pace,  Coleman 
and  his  dragoman  followed  them. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  99 

The  dragoman  was  now  moved  to  erect  many 
reasons  for  an  immediate  return.  It  was  plain  that  he 
had  no  stomach  at  all  for  this  business,  and  that  he 
wished  himself  safely  back  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  Coleman  looked  at  him  askance.  When  these 
men  talked  together  Coleman  might  as  well  have  been 
a  polar  bear  for  all  he  understood  of  it.  When  he  saw 
the  trepidation  of  his  dragoman,  he  did  not  know 
what  it  foreboded.  In  this  situation  it  was  not  for 
him  to  say  that  the  dragoman's  fears  were  founded  on 
nothing.  And  ever  the  dragoman  raised  his  reasons 
for  a  retreat.  Coleman  spoke  to  himself.  "  I  am 
just  a  trifle  rattled,"  he  said  to  his  heart,  and  after 
he  had  communed  for  a  time  upon  the  duty  of  steadi 
ness,  he  addressed  the  dragoman  in  cool  language. 
"  Now,  my  persuasive  friend,  just  quit  all  that, 
because  business  is  business,  and  it  may  be  rather 
annoying  business,  but  you  will  have  to  go  through 
with  it."  Long  afterward,  when  ruminating  over  the 
feelings  of  that  morning,  he  saw  with  some  astonish 
ment  that  there  was  not  a  single  thing  within  sound 
or  sight  to  cause  a  rational  being  any  quaking.  He 
was  simply  riding  with  some  soldiers  over  a  vast 
tree-dotted  prairie. 

Presently  the  commanding  officer  turned  in  his  sad 
dle  and  told  the  dragoman  that  he  was  going  to  ride 
forward  with  his  orderly  to  where  he  could  see  the 
flanking  parties  and  the  scouts,  and  courteously,  with 


ioo  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  manner  of  a  gentleman  entertaining  two  guests, 
he  asked  if  the  civilians  cared  to  accompany  him. 
The  dragoman  would  not  have  passed  this  question 
correctly  on  to  Coleman  if  he  had  thought  he  could 
have  avoided  it,  but,  with  both  men  regarding  him,  he 
considered  that  a  lie  probably  meant  instant  detec 
tion.  He  spoke  almost  the  truth,  contenting  himself 
with  merely  communicating  to  Coleman  in  a  subtle 
way  his  sense  that  a  ride  forward  with  the  command 
ing  officer  and  his  orderly  would  be  depressing  and 
dangerous  occupation.  But  Coleman  immediately 
accepted  the  invitation  mainly  because  it  was  the 
invitation  of  the  major,  and  in  war  it  is  a  brave  man 
who  can  refuse  the  invitation  of  a  commanding  officer. 
The  little  party  of  four  trotted  away  from  the 
reserves,  curving  in  single  file  about  the  water-holes. 
In  time  they  arrived  at  where  the  plain  lacked  trees 
and  was  one  great  green  lake  of  grass ;  grass  and 
scrubs.  On  this  expanse  they  could  see  the  Greek 
horsemen  riding,  mainly  appearing  as  little  black 
dots.  Far  to  the  left  there  was  a  squad  said  to  be 
composed  of  only  twenty  troopers,  but  in  the  dis 
tance  their  black  mass  seemed  to  be  a  regiment. 

As  the  officer  and  his  guests  advanced  they  came  in 
view  of  what  one  may  call  the  shore  of  the  plain. 
The  rise  of  ground  was  heavily  clad  with  trees,  and 
over  the  tops  of  them  appeared  the  cupola  and  part 
of  the  walls  of  a  large  white  house,  and  there  were 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  101 

glimpses  of  huts  near  it  as  if  a  village  was  marked. 
The  black  specks  seemed  to  be  almost  to  it.  The 
major  galloped  forward  and  the  others  followed  at 
his  pace.  The  house  grew  larger  and  larger  and  they 
came  nearly  to  the  advance  scouts  who  they  could 
now  see  were  not  quite  close  to  the  village.  There 
had  been  a  deception  of  the  eye  precisely  as  occurs  at 
sea.  Herds  of  unguarded  sheep  drifted  over  the  plain 
and  little  ownerless  horses,  still  cruelly  hobbled, 
leaped  painfully  away,  frightened,  as  if  they  under 
stood  that  an  anarchy  had  come  upon  them.  The 
party  rode  until  they  were  very  nearly  up  with  the 
scouts,  and  then  from  low  down  at  the  very  edge  of 
the  plain  there  came  a  long  rattling  noise  which  en 
dured  as  if  some  kind  of  grinding  machine  had  been 
put  in  motion.  Smoke  arose,  faintly  marking  the 
position  of  an  intrenchment.  Sometimes  a  swift  spit 
ting  could  be  heard  from  the  air  over  the  party. 

It  was  Coleman's  fortune  to  think  at  first  that  the 
Turks  were  not  firing  in  his  direction,  but  as  soon  as 
he  heard  the  weird  voices  in  the  air  he  knew  that  war 
was  upon  him.  But  it  was  plain  that  the  range  was 
almost  excessive,  plain  even  to  his  ignorance.  The 
major  looked  at  him  and  laughed ;  he  found  no  diffi 
culty  in  smiling  in  response.  If  this  was  war,  it  could 
be  withstood  somehow.  He  could  not  at  this  time 
understand  what  a  mere  trifle  was  the  present  incident. 
He  felt  upon  his  cheek  a  little  breeze  which  was  mov- 


102  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

ing  the  grass-blades.  He  had  tied  his  canteen  in  a 
wrong  place  on  the  saddle  and  every  time  the  horse 
moved  quickly  the  canteen  banged  the  correspondent, 
to  his  annoyance  and  distress,  forcibly  on  the  knee. 
He  had  forgotten  about  his  dragoman,  but  happening 
to  look  upon  that  faithful  servitor,  he  saw  him  gone 
white  with  horror.  A  bullet  at  that  moment  twanged 
near  his  head  and  the  slave  to  fear  ducked  in  a  spasm. 
Coleman  called  the  orderly's  attention  and  they  both 
laughed  discreetly.  They  made  no  pretension  of  being 
heroes,  but  they  saw  plainly  that  they  were  better 
than  this  man. 

Coleman  said  to  him  :  "  How  far  is  it  now  to  Nikop- 
olis  ?  "  The  dragoman  replied  only  with  a  look  of 
agonized  impatience. 

But  of  course  there  was  no  going  to  Nikopolis  that 
day.  The  officer  had  advanced  his  men  as  far  as  was 
intended  by  his  superiors,  and  presently  they  were  all 
recalled  and  trotted  back  to  the  bridge.  They  crossed 
it  to  their  old  camp. 

An  important  part  of  Coleman's  traps  was  back 
with  his  Athenian  horses  and  their  groom,  but  with 
his  present  equipment  he  could  at  least  lie  smoking  on 
his  blankets  and  watch  the  dragoman  prepare  food. 
But  he  reflected  that  for  that  day  he  had  only  attained 
the  simple  discovery  that  the  approach  to  Nikopolis 
was  surrounded  with  difficulties. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  same  afternoon  Coleman  and  the  dragoman 
rode  up  to  Arta  on  their  borrowed  troop  horses.  The 
correspondent  first  went  to  the  telegraph  office  and 
found  there  the  usual  number  of  despairing  clerks. 
They  were  outraged  when  they  found  he  was  going  to 
send  messages  and  thought  it  preposterous  that  he  in 
sisted  upon  learning  if  there  were  any  in  the  office  for 
him.  They  had  trouble  enough  with  endless  official 
communications  without  being  hounded  about  private 
affairs  by  a  confident  young  man  in  khaki.  But  Cole 
man  at  last  unearthed  six  cablegrams  which  collect 
ively  said  that  the  Eclipse  wondered  why  they  did  not 
hear  from  him,  that  Walkley  had  been  relieved  from 
duty  in  London  and  sent  to  join  the  army  of  the 
crown  prince,  that  young  Point,  the  artist,  had  been 
shipped  to  Greece,  that  if  he,  Coleman,  succeeded  in 
finding  the  Wainwright  party  the  paper  was  prepared 
to  make  a  tremendous  uproar  of  a  celebration  over  it 
and,  finally,  the  paper  wondered  twice  more  why  they 
did  not  hear  from  him. 

When  Coleman  went  forth  to  enquire  if  anybody 
knew  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  Wainwright  party  he 
thought  first  of  his  fellow  correspondents.  He  found 


io4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

most  of  them  in  a  cafe  where  was  to  be  had  about  the 
only  food  in  the  soldier-laden  town.  It  was  a  slothful 
den  where  even  an  ordinary  boiled  egg  could  be  made 
unpalatable.  Such  a  common  matter  as  the  salt  men 
watched  with  greed  and  suspicion  as  if  they  were  al 
ways  about  to  grab  it  from  each  other.  The  proprie 
tor,  in  a  dirty  shirt,  could  always  be  heard  whining, 
evidently  telling  the  world  that  he  was  being  abused, 
but  he  had  spirit  enough  remaining  to  charge  three 
prices  for  everything  with  an  almost  Jewish  fluency. 

The  correspondents  consoled  themselves  largely 
upon  black  bread  and  the  native  wines.  Also  there 
were  certain  little  oiled  fishes,  and  some  green  odds 
and  ends  for  salads.  The  correspondents  were  prac 
tically  all  Englishmen.  Some  of  them  were  veterans 
of  journalism  in  the  Sudan,  in  India,  in  South  Africa ; 
and  there  were  others  who  knew  as  much  of  war  as 
they  could  learn  by  sitting  at  a  desk  and  editing  the 
London  stock  reports.  Some  were  on  their  own 
hook ;  some  had  horses  and  dragomen  and  some  had 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other ;  many  knew  how  to 
write  and  a  few  had  it  yet  to  learn.  The  thing  in 
common  was  a  spirit  of  adventure  which  found  pleas 
ure  in  the  extraordinary  business  of  seeing  how  men 
kill  each  other. 

They  were  talking  of  an  artillery  duel  which  had 
been  fought  the  previous  day  between  the  Greek  bat 
teries  above  the  town  and  the  Turkish  batteries  across 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  105 

the  river.  Coleman  took  seat  at  one  of  the  long 
tables,  and  the  astute  dragoman  got  somebody  in  the 
street  to  hold  the  horses  in  order  that  he  might  be 
present  at  any  feasting. 

One  of  the  experienced  correspondents  was  remark 
ing  that  the  fire  of  the  Greek  batteries  in  the  engage 
ment  had  been  the  finest  artillery  practice  of  the 
century.  He  spoke  a  little  loudly,  perhaps,  in  the 
wistful  hope  that  some  of  the  Greek  officers  would  un 
derstand  enough  English  to  follow  his  meaning,  for  it 
is  always  good  for  a  correspondent  to  admire  the 
prowess  on  his  own  side  of  the  battlefield.  After  a 
time  Coleman  spoke  in  a  lull,  and  describing  the  sup 
posed  misfortunes  of  the  Wainwright  party,  asked  if 
any  one  had  news  of  them.  The  correspondents  were 
surprised  ;  they  had  none  of  them  heard  even  of  the 
existence  of  a  Wainwright  party.  Also  none  of  them 
seemed  to  care  exceedingly.  The  conversation  soon 
changed  to  a  discussion  of  the  probable  result  of  the 
general  Greek  advance  announced  for  the  morrow. 

Coleman  silently  commented  that  this  remarkable 
appearance  of  indifference  to  the  mishap  of  the  Wain- 
wrights,  a  little  party,  a  single  group,  was  a  better  de 
finition  of  a  real  condition  of  war  than  that  bit  of 
long-range  musketry  of  the  morning.  He  took  a  cer 
tain  despatch  out  of  his  pocket  and  again  read  it. 
"  Find  Wainwright  party  at  all  hazards  ;  much  talk 
here  ;  success  means  red  fire  by  ton.  Eclipse"  It 


io6  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

was  an  important  matter.  He  could  imagine  how  the 
American  people,  vibrating  for  years  to  stories  of  the 
cruelty  of  the  Turk,  would  tremble — indeed,  was  now 
trembling — while  the  newspapers  howled  out  the  dire 
possibilities.  He  saw  all  the  kinds  of  people,  from 
those  who  would  read  the  Wainwright  chapters  from 
day  to  day  as  a  sort  of  sensational  novel,  to  those 
who  would  work  up  a  gentle  sympathy  for  the  woe  of 
others  around  the  table  in  the  evenings.  He  saw  bar 
keepers  and  policemen  taking  a  high  gallery  thrill  out 
of  this  kind  of  romance.  He  saw  even  the  emotion 
among  American  colleges  over  the  tragedy  of  a  pro 
fessor  and  some  students.  It  certainly  was  a  big 
affair.  Marjory  of  course  was  eveiything  in  oneway, 
but  that,  to  the  world,  was  not  a  big  affair.  It  was 
the  romance  of  the  Wainwright  party  in  its  simplicity 
that  to  the  American  world  was  arousing  great  sensa 
tion  ;  one  that  in  the  old  days  would  have  made  his 
heart  leap  like  a  colt. 

Still,  when  batteries  had  fought  each  other  savagely, 
and  horse,  foot  and  guns  were  now  about  to  make  a 
general  advance,  it  was  difficult,  he  could  see,  to  stir 
men  to  think  and  feel  out  of  the  present  zone  of 
action  ;  to  adopt  for  a  time  in  fact  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  the  other  side  of  the  world.  It  made 
Coleman  dejected  as  he  saw  clearly  that  the  task  was 
wholly  on  his  own  shoulders. 

Of  course  they  were  men  who  when  at  home  mani- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  107 

fested  the  most  gentle  and  wide-reaching  feelings  ; 
most  of  them  could  not  by  any  possibility  have 
slapped  a  kitten  merely  for  the  prank  and  yet  all  of 
them  who  had  seen  an  unknown  man  shot  through 
the  head  in  battle  had  little  more  to  think  of  it  than 
if  the  man  had  been  a  rag-baby.  Tender  they  might 
be ;  poets  they  might  be ;  but  they  were  all  horned 
with  a  provisional,  temporary,  but  absolutely  essential 
callouse  which  was  formed  by  their  existence  amid 
war  with  its  quality  of  making  them  always  think  of 
the  sights  and  sounds  concealed  in  their  own  direct 
future. 

They  had  been  simply  polite.  "  Yes  ?  "  said  one  to 
Coleman.  "  How  many  people  in  the  party  ?  Are 
they  all  Americans?  Oh,  I  suppose  it  will  be  quite 
right.  Your  minister  in  Constantinople  will  arrange 
that  easily.  Where  did  you  say  ?  At  Nikopolis  ? 
Well,  we  conclude  that  the  Turks  will  make  no  stand 
between  here  and  Pentepigadia.  In  that  case  your 
Nikopolis  will  be  uncovered  unless  the  garrison  at 
Prevasa  intervenes.  That  garrison  at  Prevasa,  by  the 
way,  may  make  a  deal  of  trouble.  Remember 
Plevna." 

"  Exactly  how  far  is  it  to  Nikopolis  ?  "  asked  Cole 
man. 

"  Oh,  I  think  it  is  about  thirty  kilometers,"  replied 
the  others.  "  There  is  a  good  miltary  road  as  soon  as 
you  cross  the  Louros  river.  I've  got  the  map  of  the 


i o8  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Austrian  general  staff.  Would  you  like  to  look  at 
it?" 

Coleman  studied  the  map,  speeding  with  his  eye 
rapidly  to  and  fro  between  Arta  and  Nikopolis.  To 
him  it  was  merely  a  brown  lithograph  of  mystery,  but 
he  could  study  the  distances. 

He  had  received  a  cordial  invitation  from  the  com 
mander  of  the  cavalry  to  go  with  him  for  another  ride 
into  Turkey,  and  he  inclined  to  believe  that  his  pro 
ject  would  be  furthered  if  he  stuck  close  to  the  cav 
alry.  So  he  rode  back  to  the  cavalry  camp  and  went 
peacefully  to  sleep  on  the  sod.  He  awoke  in  the 
morning  with  chattering  teeth  to  find  his  dragoman 
saying  that  the  major  had  unaccountably  withdrawn 
his  loan  of  the  two  troop  horses.  Coleman  of  course 
immediately  said  to  himself  that  the  dragoman  was 
lying  again  in  order  to  prevent  another  expedition 
into  ominous  Turkey,  but  after  all  if  the  commander 
of  the  cavalry  had  suddenly  turned  the  light  of  his 
favour  from  the  correspondent  it  was  only  a  proceed 
ing  consistent  with  the  nature  which  Coleman  now 
thought  he  was  beginning  to  discern,  a  nature  which 
can  never  think  twice  in  the  same  place,  a  gaseous 
mind  which  drifts,  dissolves,  combines,  vanishes  with 
the  ability  of  an  aerial  thing  until  the  man  of  the 
north  feels  that  when  he  clutches  it  with  full  knowl 
edge  of  his  senses  he  is  only  the  victim  of  his  ardent 
imagination.  It  is  the  difference  in  standards,  in 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  109 

creeds,  which  is  the  more  luminous  when  men  call  out 
that  they  are  all  alike. 

So'Coleman  and  his  dragoman  loaded  their  traps 
and  moved  out  to  again  invade  Turkey.  It  was 
not  yet  clear  daylight,  but  they  felt  that  they  might 
well  start  early  since  they  were  no  longer  mounted 
men. 

On  the  way  to  the  bridge,  the  dragoman,  although 
he  was  curiously  in  love  with  his  forty  francs  a  day 
and  his  opportunities,  ventured  a  stout  protest,  based 
apparently  upon  the  fact  that  after  all  this  foreigner, 
four  days  out  from  Athens  was  somewhat  at  his 
mercy.  "  Meester  Coleman,"  he  said,  stopping  sud 
denly,  "  I  think  we  make  no  good  if  we  go  there. 
Much  better  we  wait  Arta  for  our  horse.  Much 
better.  I  think  this  no  good.  There  is  coming  one 
big  fight  and  I  think  much  better  we  go  stay  Arta. 
Much  better." 

41  Oh,  come  off,"  said  Coleman.  And  in  clear  lan 
guage  he  began  to  labour  with  the  man.  "  Look  here, 
now,  if  you  think  you  are  engaged  in  steering  a  bunch 
of  wooden-headed  guys  about  the  Acropolis,  my  dear 
partner  of  my  joys  and  sorrows,  you  are  extremely 
mistaken.  As  a  matter  of  fact  you  are  now  the  drago 
man  of  a  war  correspondent  and  you  were  engaged 
and  are  paid  to  be  one.  It  becomes  necessary  that 
you  make  good.  Make  good,  do  you  understand  ? 
I'm  not  out  here  to  be  buncoed  by  this  sort  of  game." 


i  io  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

He  continued  indefinitely  in  this  strain  and  at  inter 
vals  he  asked  sharply  :  "  Do  you  understand  ?  " 

Perhaps  the  dragoman  was  dumbfounded  that  the 
laconic  Coleman  could  on  occasion  talk  so  much,  or 
perhaps  he  understood  everything  and  was  impressed 
by  the  argumentative  power.  At  any  rate  he  suddenly 
wilted.  He  made  a  gesture  which  was  a  protestation 
of  martyrdom  and  picking  up  his  burden  proceeded 
on  his  way. 

When  they  reached  the  bridge,  they  saw  strong 
columns  of  Greek  infantry,  dead  black  in  the  dim 
light,  crossing  the  stream  and  slowly  deploying  on  the 
other  shore.  It  was  a  bracing  sight  to  the  dragoman, 
who  then  went  into  one  of  his  absurd  babbling  moods, 
in  which  he  would  have  talked  the  head  off  any  man 
who  was  not  born  in  a  country  laved  by  the  childish 
Mediterranean.  Coleman  could  not  understand  what 
he  said  to  the  soldiers  as  they  passed,  but  it  was 
evidently  all  grandiose  nonsense. 

Two  light  batteries  had  precariously  crossed  the 
rickety  bridge  during  the  night,  and  now  this  force  of 
several  thousand  infantry,  with  the  two  batteries,  was 
moving  out  over  the  territory  which  the  cavalry  had 
reconnoitered  on  the  previous  day.  The  ground 
being  familiar  to  Coleman,  he  no  longer  knew  a 
tremour,  and,  regarding  his  dragoman,  he  saw  that  that 
invaluable  servitor  was  also  in  better  form.  They 
marched  until  they  found  one  of  the  light  batteries 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  in 

unlimbered  and  aligned  on  the  lake  of  grass  about  a 
mile  from  where  parts  of  the  white  house  appeared 
above  the  tree-tops.  Here  the  dragoman  talked  with 
the  captain  of  artillery,  a  tiny  man  on  an  immense 
horse,  who  for  some  unknown  reason  told  him  that 
this  force  was  going  to  raid  into  Turkey  and  try  to 
swing  around  the  opposing  army's  right  flank.  He 
announced,  as  he  showed  his  teeth  in  a  smile,  that  it 
would  be  very,  very  dangerous  work.  The  dragoman 
precipitated  himself  upon  Coleman. 

"  This  is  much  danger.  The  copten  he  tell  me  the 
trups  go  now  in  back  of  the  Turks.  It  will  be  much 
danger.  I  think  much  better  we  go  Arta  wait  for 
horse.  Much  better."  Coleman,  although  he  be 
lieved  he  despised  the  dragoman,  could  not  help  but 
be  influenced  by  his  fears.  They  were,  so  to  speak, 
in  a  room  with  one  window,  and  only  the  dragoman 
looked  forth  from  the  window,  so  if  he  said  that  what 
he  saw  outside  frightened  him,  Coleman  was  perforce 
frightened  also  in  a  measure.  But  when  the  corre 
spondent  raised  his  eyes  he  saw  the  captain  of  the  bat 
tery  looking  at  him,  his  teeth  still  showing  in  a  smile, 
as  if  his  information,  whether  true  or  false,  had  been 
given  to  convince  the  foreigner  that  the  Greeks  were 
a  very  superior  and  brave  people,  notably  one  little 
officer  of  artillery.  He  had  apparently  assumed  that 
Coleman  would  balk  from  venturing  with  such  a  force 
upon  an  excursion  to  trifle  with  the  rear  of  a  hard- 


ii2  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

fighting  Ottoman  army.  He  exceedingly  disliked 
that  man,  sitting  up  there  on  his  tall  horse  and  grin 
ning  like  a  cruel  little  ape  with  a  secret.  In  truth, 
Coleman  was  taken  back  at  the  outlook,  but  he  could 
no  more  refrain  from  instantly  accepting  this  half-con 
cealed  challenge  than  he  could  have  refrained  from 
resenting  an  ordinary  form  of  insult.  His  mind  was 
not  at  peace,  but  the  small  vanities  are  very  large. 
He  was  perfectly  aware  that  he  was  being  misled  into 
the  thing  by  an  odd  pride,  but  anyhow,  it  easily  might 
turn  out  to  be  a  stroke  upon  the  doors  of  Nikopolis. 
He  nodded  and  smiled  at  the  officer  in  grateful  ac 
knowledgment  of  his  service. 

The  infantry  was  moving  steadily  a-field.  Black 
blocks  of  men  were  trailing  in  column  slowly  over  the 
plain.  They  were  not  unlike  the  backs  of  dominoes 
on  a  green  baize  table  ;  they  were  so  vivid,  so  start 
ling.  The  correspondent  and  his  servant  followed 
them.  Eventually  they  overtook  two  companies  in 
command  of  a  captain,  who  seemed  immensely  glad 
to  have  the  strangers  with  him.  As  they  marched, 
the  captain  spoke  through  the  dragoman  upon  the  vir 
tues  of  his  men,  announcing  with  other  news  the  fact 
that  his  first  sergeant  was  the  bravest  man  in  the 
world. 

A  number  of  columns  were  moving  across  the  plain 
parallel  to  their  line  of  march,  and  the  whole  force 
seemed  to  have  orders  to  halt  when  they  reached  a 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  113 

long  ditch  about  four  hundred  yards  from  where  the 
shore  of  the  plain  arose  to  the  luxuriant  groves  with  the 
cupola  of  the  big  white  house  sticking  above  them. 
The  soldiers  lay  along  the  ditch,  and  the  bravest  man 
in  the  world  spread  his  blanket  on  the  ground  for  the 
captain,  Coleman  and  himself.  During  a  long  pause 
Coleman  tried  to  elucidate  the  question  of  why  the 
Greek  soldiers  wore  heavy  overcoats,  even  in  the  bit 
ter  heat  of  midday,  but  he  could  only  learn  that  the 
dews,  when  they  came,  were  very  destructive  to  the 
lungs.  Further,  he  convinced  himself  anew  that  talk 
ing  through  an  interpreter  to  the  minds  of  other  men 
was  as  satisfactory  as  looking  at  landscape  through  a 
stained  glass  window. 

After  a  time  there  was,  in  front,  a  stir  near  where  a 
curious  hedge  of  dry  brambles  seemed  to  outline  some 
sort  of  a  garden  patch.  Many  of  the  soldiers  ex 
claimed  and  raised  their  guns.  But  there  seemed  to 
come  a  general  understanding  to  the  line  that  it  was 
wrong  to  fire.  Then  presently  into  the  open  came  a 
dirty  brown  figure,  and  Coleman  could  see  through  his 
glasses  that  its  head  was  crowned  with  a  dirty  fez 
which  had  once  been  white.  This  indicated  that  the 
figure  was  that  of  one  of  the  Christian  peasants  of 
Epirus.  Obedient  to  the  captain,  the  sergeant  arose 
and  waved  invitation.  The  peasant  wavered,  changed 
his  mind,  was  obviously  terror-stricken,  regained  con 
fidence  and  then  began  to  advance  circuitously  toward 


u4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  Greek  lines.  When  he  arrived  within  hailing  dis 
tance,  the  captain,  the  sergeant,  Coleman's  dragoman 
and  many  of  the  soldiers  yelled  human  messages,  and 
a  moment  later  he  was  seen  to  be  a  poor,  yellow-faced 
stripling  with  a  body  which  seemed  to  have  been  first 
twisted  by  an  ill-birth  and  afterward  maimed  by 
either  labour  or  oppression,  these  being  often  identical 
in  their  effects. 

His  reception  of  the  Greek  soldiery  was  no  less 
fervid  than  their  welcome  of  him  to  their  protection. 
He  threw  his  grimy  fez  in  the  air  and  croaked  out 
cheers,  while  tears  wet  his  cheeks.  When  he  had 
come  upon  the  right  side  of  the  ditch  he  ran  capering 
among  them  and  the  captain,  the  sergeant,  the  drago 
man  and  a  number  of  soldiers  received  wild  embraces 
and  kisses.  He  made  a  dash  at  Coleman,  but  Coleman 
was  now  wary  in  the  game,  and  retired  dexterously 
behind  different  groups  with  a  finished  appearance  of 
not  noting  that  the  young  man  wished  to  greet  him. 

Behind  the  hedge  of  dry  brambles  there  were  more 
indications  of  life,  and  the  peasant  stood  up  and  made 
beseeching  gestures.  Soon  a  whole  flock  of  miserable 
people  had  come  out  to  the  Greeks,  men,  women 
and  children,  in  crude  and  comic  smocks,  prancing 
here  and  there,  uproariously  embracing  and  kissing 
their  deliverers.  An  old,  tearful,  toothless  hag  flung 
herself  rapturously  into  the  arms  of  the  captain,  and 
Coleman's  brick-and-iron  soul  was  moved  to  admira- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  115 

tion  at  the  way  in  which  the  officer  administered  a 
chaste  salute  upon  the  furrowed  cheek.  The  drago 
man  told  the  correspondent  that  the  Turks  had  run 
away  from  the  village  on  up  a  valley  toward  Jannina. 
Everybody  was  proud  and  happy. 

A  major  of  infantry  came  from  the  rear  at  this  time 
and  asked  the  captain  in  sharp  tones  who  were  the 
two  strangers  in  civilian  attire.  When  the  captain 
had  answered  correctly  the  major  was  immediately 
mollified,  and  had  it  announced  to  the  correspondent 
that  his  battalion  was  going  to  move  immediately  into 
the  village,  and  that  he  would  be  delighted  to  have 
his  company. 

The  major  strode  at  the  head  of  his  men  with  the 
group  of  villagers  singing  and  dancing  about  him  and 
looking  upon  him  as  if  he  were  a  god.  Coleman  and 
the  dragoman,  at  the  officer's  request,  marched  one 
on  either  side  of  him,  and  in  this  manner  they  entered 
the  village.  From  all  sorts  of  hedges  and  thickets, 
people  came  creeping  out  to  pass  into  a  delirium  of 
joy.  The  major  borrowed  three  little  pack  horses 
with  rope-bridles,  and  thus  mounted  and  followed  by 
the  clanking  column,  they  rode  on  in  triumph. 

It  was  probably  more  of  a  true  festival  than  most 
men  experience  even  in  the  longest  life  time.  The 
major  with  his  Greek  instinct  of  drama  was  a  splendid 
personification  of  poetic  quality  ;  in  fact  he  was  him 
self  almost  a  lyric.  From  time  to  time  he  glanced  back 


ii6  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

at  Coleman  with  eyes  half  dimmed  with  appreciation. 
The  people  gathered  flowers,  great  blossoms  of  purple 
and  corn  colour.  They  sprinkled  them  over  the  three 
horsemen  and  flung  them  deliriously  under  the  feet  of 
the  little  nags.  Being  now  mounted  Coleman  had  no 
difficulty  in  avoiding  the  embraces  of  the  peasants,  but 
he  felt  to  the  tips  of  his  toes  an  abandonment  to  a 
kind  of  pleasure  with  which  he  was  not  at  all  familiar. 
Riding  thus  amid  cries  of  thanksgiving  addressed  at 
him  equally  with  the  others,  he  felt  a  burning  virtue 
and  quite  lost  his  old  self  in  an  illusion  of  noble  be 
nignity.  And  there  continued  the  fragrant  hail  of 
blossoms. 

Miserable  little  huts  straggled  along  the  sides  of  the 
village  street  as  if  they  were  following  at  the  heels  of 
the  great  white  house  of  the  bey.  The  column  pro 
ceeded  northward,  announcing  laughingly  to  the  glad 
villagers  that  they  would  never  see  another  Turk. 
Before  them  on  the  road  was  here  and  there  a  fez  from 
the  head  of  a  fled  Turkish  soldier  and  they  lay  like 
drops  of  blood  from  some  wounded  leviathan.  Ulti 
mately  it  grew  cloudy.  It  even  rained  slightly.  In 
the  misty  downfall  the  column  of  soldiers  in  blue  was 
dim  as  if  it  were  merely  a  long  trail  of  low-hung  smoke. 

They  came  to  the  ruins  of  a  church  and  there  the 
major  halted  his  battalion.  Coleman  worried  at  his 
dragoman  to  learn  if  the  halt  was  only  temporary. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  there  was  answer  from  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE..  117 

major,  for  he  had  drawn  up  his  men  in  platoons  and 
was  addressing  them  in  a  speech  as  interminable  as 
any  that  Coleman  had  heard  in  Greece.  The  officer 
waved  his  arms  and  roared  out  evidently  the  glories  of 
patriotism  and  soldierly  honour,  the  glories  of  their 
ancient  people,  and  he  may  have  included  any  subject 
in  this  wonderful  speech,  for  the  reason  that  he  had 
plenty  of  time  in  which  to  do  it.  It  was  impossible 
to  tell  whether  the  oration  was  a  good  one  or  bad  one, 
because  the  men  stood  in  their  loose  platoons  without 
discernible  feelings  as  if  to  them  this  appeared  merely 
as  one  of  the  inevitable  consequences  of  a  campaign, 
an  established  rule  of  warfare.  Coleman  ate  black 
bread  and  chocolate  tablets  while  the  dragoman  hov 
ered  near  the  major  with  the  intention  of  pouncing 
upon  him  for  information  as  soon  as  his  lungs  yielded 
to  the  strain  upon  them. 

The  dragoman  at  last  returned  with  a  very  long  ver 
bal  treatise  from  the  major,  who  apparently  had  not 
been  as  exhausted  after  his  speech  to  the  men  as  one 
would  think.  The  major  had  said  that  he  had  been 
ordered  to  halt  here  to  form  a  junction  with  some  of 
the  troops  coming  direct  from  Arta,  and  that  he  ex 
pected  that  in  the  morning  the  army  would  be  divided 
and  one  wing  would  chase  the  retreating  Turks  on 
toward  Jannina,  while  the  other  wing  would  advance 
upon  Prevasa  because  the  enemy  had  a  garrison  there 
which  had  not  retreated  an  inch,  and,  although  it  was 


ii8  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

cut  off,  it  was  necessary  to  send  either  a  force  to  hold 
it  in  its  place  or  a  larger  force  to  go  through  with  the 
business  of  capturing  it.  Else  there  would  be  left  in  the 
rear  of  the  left  flank  of  a  Greek  advance  upon  Jannina 
a  body  of  the  enemy  which  at  any  moment  might  be 
come  active.  The  major  said  that  his  battalion  would 
probably  form  part  of  the  force  to  advance  upon  Pre- 
vasa.  Nikopolis  was  on  the  road  to  Prevasa  and  only 
three  miles  away  from  it. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

COLEMAN  spent  a  long  afternoon  in  the  drizzle. 
Enveloped  in  his  macintosh  he  sat  on  a  boulder  in  the 
lee  of  one  of  the  old  walls  and  moodily  smoked  cigars 
and  listened  to  the  ceaseless  clatter  of  tongues.  A 
ray  of  light  penetrated  the  mind  of  the  dragoman  and 
he  laboured  assiduously  with  wet  fuel  until  he  had 
accomplished  a  tin  mug  of  coffee.  Bits  of  cinder 
floated  in  it,  but  Coleman  rejoiced  and  was  kind  to  the 
dragoman. 

The  night  was  of  cruel  monotony.  Afflicted  by  the 
wind  and  the  darkness,  the  correspondent  sat  with 
nerves  keyed  high  waiting  to  hear  the  pickets  open 
fire  on  a  night  attack.  He  was  so  unaccountably  sure 
that  there  would  be  a  tumult  and  panic  of  this  kind 
at  some  time  of  the  night  that  he  prevented  himself 
from  getting  a  reasonable  amount  of  rest.  He  could 
hear  the  soldiers  breathing  in  sleep  all  about  him. 
He  wished  to  arouse  them  from  this  slumber  which, 
to  his  ignorance,  seemed  stupid.  The  quality  of  mys 
terious  menace  in  the  great  gloom  and  the  silence 
would  have  caused  him  to  pray  if  prayer  would  have 
transported  him  magically  to  New  York  and  made  him 
a  young  man  with  no  coat  playing  billiards  at  his  club. 


120  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  chill  dawn  came  at  last  and  with  a  fine  elation 
which  ever  follows  a  dismal  night  in  war  ;  an  elation 
which  bounds  in  the  bosom  as  soon  as  day  has  knocked 
the  shackles  from  a  trembling  mind.  Although  Cole- 
man  had  slept  but  a  short  time  he  was  now  as  fresh  as 
a  total  abstainer  coming  from  the  bath.  He  heard 
the  creak  of  battery  wheels  ;  he  saw  crawling  bodies 
of  infantry  moving  in  the  dim  light  like  ghostly  pro 
cessions.  He  felt  a  tremendous  virility  come  with 
this  new  hope  in  the  daylight.  He  again  took  satis 
faction  in  his  sentimental  journey.  It  was  a  shining 
affair.  He  was  on  active  service,  an  active  service  of 
the  heart,  and  he  felt  that  he  was  a  strong  man  ready 
to  conquer  difficulty  even  as  the  olden  heroes  con 
quered  difficulty.  He  imagined  himself  in  a  way  like 
them.  He,  too,  had  come  out  to  fight  for  love  with 
giants,  dragons  and  witches.  He  had  never  known 
that  he  could  be  so  pleased  with  that  kind  of  a  par 
allel. 

The  dragoman  announced  that  the  major  had  sud 
denly  lent  their  horses  to  some  other  people,  and  after 
cursing  this  versatility  of  interest,  he  summoned  his 
henchmen  and  they  moved  out  on  foot,  following  the 
sound  of  the  creaking  wheels.  They  came  in  time  to 
a  bridge,  and  on  the  side  of  this  bridge  was  a  hard 
military  road  which  sprang  away  in  two  directions, 
north  and  west.  Some  troops  were  creeping  out  the 
westward  way  and  the  dragoman  pointing  at  them 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  121 

said  :  "  They  going  Prevasa.  That  is  road  to  Nikop- 
olis."  Coleman  grinned  from  ear  to  ear  and  slapped 
his  dragoman  violently  on  the  shoulder.  For  a  mo 
ment  he  intended  to  hand  the  man  a  louis  of  reward, 
but  he  changed  his  mind. 

Their  traps  were  in  the  way  of  being  heavy,  but 
they  minded  little  since  the  dragoman  was  now  a  vic 
tim  of  the  influence  of  Coleman's  enthusiasm.  The 
road  wound  along  the  base  of  the  mountain  range, 
sheering  around  the  abutments  in  wide  white  curves 
and  then  circling  into  glens  where  immense  trees 
spread  their  shade  over  it.  Some  of  the  great  trunks 
were  oppressed  with  vines  green  as  garlands,  and 
these  vines  even  ran  like  verdant  foam  over  the  rocks. 
Streams  of  translucent  water  showered  down  from  the 
hills,  and  made  pools  in  which  every  pebble,  every  jeaf 
of  a  water  plant  shone  with  magic  lustre,  and  if  the 
bottom  of  a  pool  was  only  of  clay,  the  clay  glowed 
with  sapphire  light.  The  day  was  fair.  The  country 
was  part  of  that  land  which  turned  the  minds  of  its  an 
cient  poets  toward  a  more  tender  dreaming,  so  that 
indeed  their  nymphs  would  die,  one  is  sure,  in  the  cold 
mythology  of  the  north  with  its  storms  amid  the 
gloom  of  pine  forests.  It  was  all  wine  to  Coleman's 
spirit.  It  enlivened  him  to  think  of  success  with 
absolute  surety.  To  be  sure  one  of  his  boots  began 
soon  to  rasp  his  toes,  but  he  gave  it  no  share  of  his 
attention.  They  passed  at  a  much  faster  pace  than 


122  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  troops,  and   everywhere  they  met   laughter  and 
confidence  and  the  cry:  "  On  to  Prevasa  !  " 

At  midday  they  were  at  the  heels  of  the  advance 
battalion,  among  its  stragglers,  taking  its  white  dust 
into  their  throats  and  eyes.  The  dragoman  was 
waning  and  he  made  a  number  of  attempts  to  stay 
Coleman,  but  no  one  could  have  had  influence  upon 
Coleman's  steady  rush  with  his  eyes  always  straight 
to  the  front  as  if  thus  to  symbolize  his  steadiness  of 
purpose.  Rivulets  of  sweat  marked  the  dust  on  his 
face,  and  two  of  his  toes  were  now  paining  as  if  they 
were  being  burned  off.  He  was  obliged  to  concede  a 
privilege  of  limping,  but  he  would  not  stop. 

At  nightfall  they  halted  with  the  outpost  batallion 
of  the  infantry.  All  the  cavalry  had  in  the  mean 
time  come  up  and  they  saw  their  old  friends.  There 
was  a  village  from  which  the  Christian  peasants  came 
and  cheered  like  a  trained  chorus.  Soldiers  were 
driving  a  great  flock  of  fat  sheep  into  a  corral.  They 
had  belonged  to  a  Turkish  bey  and  they  bleated  as  if 
they  knew  that  they  were  now  mere  spoils  of  war. 
Coleman  lay  on  the  steps  of  the  bey's  house  smoking 
with  his  head  on  his  blanket  roll.  Camp  fires  glowed 
off  in  the  fields.  He  was  now  about  four  miles 
from  Nikopolis. 

Within  the  house,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry 
was  writing  dispatches.  Officers  clanked  up  and 
down  the  stairs.  The  dashing  young  captain  came 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  123 

and  said  that  there  would  be  a  general  assault  on  Pre- 
vasa  at  the  dawn  of  the  next  day.  Afterward  the 
dragoman  descended  upon  the  village  and  in  some 
way  wrenched  a  little  grey  horse  from  an  inhabitant. 
Its  pack  saddle  was  on  its  back  and  it  would  very 
handily  carry  the  traps.  In  this  matter  the  drago 
man  did  not  consider  his  master ;  he  considered  his 
own  sore  back. 

Coleman  ate  more  bread  and  chocolate  tablets  and 
also  some  tinned  sardines.  He  was  content  with  the 
day's  work.  He  did  not  see  how  he  could  have  im 
proved  it.  There  was  only  one  route  by  which  the 
Wainwright  party  could  avoid  him,  and  that  was  by 
going  to  Prevasa  and  thence  taking  ship.  But  since 
Prevasa  was  blockaded  by  a  Greek  fleet,  he  conceived 
that  event  to  be  impossible.  Hence,  he  had  them 
hedged  on  this  peninsula  and  they  must  be  either  at 
Nikopolis  or  Prevasa.  He  would  probably  know  all 
early  in  the  morning.  He  reflected  that  he  was  too 
tired  to  care  if  there  might  be  a  night  attack  and  then 
wrapped  in  his  blankets  he  went  peacefully  to  sleep 
in  the  grass  under  a  big  tree  with  the  crooning  of 
some  soldiers  around  their  fire  blending  into  his 
slumber. 

And  now,  although  the  dragoman  had  performed  a 
number  of  feats  of  incapacity,  he  achieved  during  the 
one  hour  of  Coleman's  sleeping  a  blunder  which  for 
real  finish  was  simply  a  perfection  of  art.  When 


I24  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Coleman,  much  later,  extracted  the  full  story,  it  ap 
peared  that  ringing  events  happened  during  that  single 
hour  of  sleep.  Ten  minutes  after  he  had  lain  down 
for  a  night  of  oblivion,  the  battalion  of  infantry,  which 
had  advanced  a  little  beyond  the  village,  was  recalled 
and  began  a  hurried  night  march  back  on  the  way  it 
had  so  festively  come.  It  was  significant  enough  to 
appeal  to  almost  any  mind,  but  the  dragoman  was  able 
to  not  understand  it.  He  remained  jabbering  to  some 
acquaintances  among  the  troopers.  Coleman  had  been 
asleep  his  hour  when  the  dashing  young  captain  per 
ceived  the  dragoman,  and  completely  horrified  by  his 
presence  at  that  place,  ran  to  him  and  whispered  to 
him  swiftly  that  the  game  was  to  flee,  flee,  flee.  The 
wing  of  the  army  which  had  advanced  northward  upon 
Jannina  had  already  been  tumbled  back  by  the  Turks 
and  all  the  other  wing  had  been  recalled  to  the  Louros 
river  and  there  was  now  nothing  practically  between 
him  and  his  sleeping  master  and  the  enemy  but  a  cav 
alry  picket.  The  cavalry  was  immediately  going  to 
make  a  forced  march  to  the  rear.  The  stricken  drago 
man  could  even  then  see  troopers  getting  into  their 
saddles.  He  rushed  to  the  tree,  and  in  a  panic  simply 
bundled  Coleman  upon  his  feet  before  he  was  awake. 
He  stuttered  out  his  tale,  and  the  dazed  correspondent 
heard  it  punctuated  by  the  steady  trample  of  the  re 
tiring  cavalry.  The  dragoman  saw  a  man's  face  then 
turn  •  in  a  flash  from  an  expression  of  luxurious 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  125 

drowsiness  to  an  expression  of  utter  malignancy. 
However,  he  was  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  be  afraid  of 
it  ;  he  ran  off  to  the  little  grey  horse  and  frenziedly 
but  skilfully  began  to  bind  the  traps  upon  the  pack- 
saddle.  He  appeared  in  a  moment  tugging  at  the 
halter.  He  could  only  say:  "Come!  Come!  Come! 
Oucck  !  Queek  !  "  They  slid  hurriedly  down  a  bank 
to  the  road  and  started  to  do  again  that  which  they 
had  accomplished  with  considerable  expenditure  of 
physical  power  during  the  day.  The  hoof  beats  of  the 
cavalry  had  already  died  away  and  the  mountains 
shadowed  them  in  lonely  silence.  They  were  the  rear 
guard  after  the  rear  guard. 

The  dragoman  muttered  hastily  his  last  dire  rumours. 
Five  hundred  Circassian  cavalry  were  coming.  The 
mountains  were  now  infested  with  the  dread  Albanian 
irregulars.  Coleman  had  thought  in  his  daylight 
tramp  that  he  had  appreciated  the  noble  distances, 
but  he  found  that  he  knew  nothing  of  their  nobility 
until  he  tried  this  night  stumbling.  And  the  hoofs  of 
the  little  horse  made  on  the  hard  road  more  noise  than 
could  be  made  by  men  beating  with  hammers  upon 
brazen  cylinders.  The  correspondent  glanced  contin 
ually  up  at  the  crags.  From  the  other  side  he  could 
sometimes  hear  the  metallic  clink  of  water  deep  down 
in  a  glen.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  seriously 
opened  the  flap  of  his  holster  and  let  his  fingers  remain 
on  the  handle  of  his  revolver.  From  just  in  front  of 


126  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

him  he  could  hear  the  chattering  of  the  dragoman's 
teeth  which  no  attempt  at  more  coolness  could  seem  to 
prevent.  In  the  meantime  the  casual  manner  of  the 
little  grey  horse  struck  Coleman  with  maddening 
vividness.  If  the  blank  darkness  was  simply  filled 
with  ferocious  Albanians,  the  horse  did  not  care  a 
button  ;  he  leisurely  put  his  feet  down  with  a 
resounding  ring.  Coleman  whispered  hastily  to  the 
dragoman.  "  If  they  rush  us,  jump  down  the  bank,  no 
matter  how  deep  it  is.  That's  our  only  chance.  And 
try  to  keep  together." 

All  they  saw  of  the  universe  was,  in  front  of  them, 
a  place  faintly  luminous  near  their  feet,  but  fading  in 
six  yards  to  the  darkness  of  a  dungeon.  This  repre 
sented  the  bright  white  road  of  the  day  time.  It  had 
no  end.  Coleman  had  thought  that  he  could  tell 
from  the  very  feel  of  the  air  some  of  the  landmarks  of 
his  daytime  journey,  but  he  had  now  no  sense  of 
location  at  all.  He  would  not  have  denied  that  he 
was  squirming  on  his  belly  like  a  worm  through  black 
mud. 

They  went  on  and  on.  Visions  of  his  past  were 
sweeping  through  Coleman's  mind  precisely  as  they 
are  said  to  sweep  through  the  mind  of  a  drowning 
person.  But  he  had  no  regret  for  any  bad  deeds ;  he 
regretted  merely  distant  hours  of  peace  and  protection. 
He  was  no  longer  a  hero  going  to  rescue  his  love. 
He  was  a  slave  making  a  gasping  attempt  to  escape 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  127 

from  the  most  incredible  tyranny  of  circumstances. 
He  half  vowed  to  himself  that  if  the  God  whom  he 
had  in  no  wise  heeded,  would  permit  him  to  crawl 
out  of  this  slavery  he  would  never  again  venture  a 
yard  toward  a  danger  any  greater  than  may  be  in 
curred  from  the  police  of  a  most  proper  metropolis. 
If  his  juvenile  and  uplifting  thoughts  of  other  days 
had  reproached  him  he  would  simply  have  repeated 
and  repeated  :  "Adventure  be  damned." 

It  became  known  to  them  that  the  horse  had  to  be 
led.  The  debased  creature  was  asserting  its  right  to 
do  as  it  had  been  trained,  to  follow  its  customs  ;  it 
was  asserting  this  right  during  a  situation  which  re 
quired  conduct  superior  to  all  training  and  custom. 
It  was  so  grossly  conventional  that  Coleman  would 
have  understood  that  demoniac  form  of  anger  which 
sometimes  leads  men  to  jab  knives  into  warm  bodies. 
Coleman  from  cowardice  tried  to  induce  the  dragoman 
to  go  ahead  leading  the  horse,  and  the  dragoman  from 
cowardice  tried  to  induce  Coleman  to  go  ahead  lead 
ing  the  horse.  Coleman  of  course  had  to  succumb. 
The  dragoman  was  only  good  to  walk  behind  and 
tearfully  whisper  maledictions  as  he  prodded  the 
flanks  of  their  tranquil  beast. 

In  the  absolute  black  of  the  frequent  forests, 
Coleman  could  not  see  his  feet  and  he  often  felt  like  a 
man  walking  forward  to  fall  at  any  moment  down  a 
thousand  yards  of  chasm.  He  heard  whispers;  he 


128  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

saw  skulking  figures,  and  these  frights  turned  out  to 
be  the  voice  of  a  little  trickle  of  water  or  the  effects 
of  wind  among  the  leaves,  but  they  were  replaced  by 
the  same  terrors  in  slightly  different  forms. 

Then  the  poignant  thing  interpolated.  A  volley 
crashed  ahead  of  them  some  half  of  a  mile  away  and 
another  volley  answered  from  a  still  nearer  point. 
Swishing  noises  which  the  correspondent  had  heard  in 
the  air  he  now  know  to  have  been  from  the  passing  of 
bullets.  He  and  the  dragoman  came  stock  still. 
They  heard  three  other  volleys  sounding  with  the 
abrupt  clamour  of  a  hail  of  little  stones  upon  a  hollow 
surface.  Coleman  and  the  dragoman  came  close 
together  and  looked  into  the  whites  of  each  other's 
eyes.  The  ghastly  horse  at  that  moment  stretched 
down  his  neck  and  began  placidly  to  pluck  the  grass 
at  the  roadside.  The  two  men  were  equally  blank  with 
fear  and  each  seemed  to  seek  in  the  other  some  newly 
rampant  manhood  upon  which  he  could  lean  at  this 
time.  Behind  them  were  the  Turks.  In  front  of  them 
was  a  fight  in  the  darkness.  In  front  it  was  mathe- 
matic  to  suppose  in  fact  were  also  the  Turks.  They 
were  barred  ;  enclosed  ;  cut  off.  The  end  was  come. 

Even  at  that  moment  they  heard  from  behind  them 
the  sound  of  slow,  stealthy  footsteps.  They  both 
wheeled  instantly,  choking  with  this  additional  terror. 
Coleman  saw  the  dragoman  move  swiftly  to  the  side 
of  the  road,  ready  to  jump  into  whatever  abyss  hap- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  129 

pened  to  be  there.  Coleman  still  gripped  the  halter 
as  if  it  were  in  truth  a  straw.  The  stealthy  footsteps 
were  much  nearer.  Then  it  was  that  an  insanity  came 
upon  him  as  if  fear  had  flamed  up  within  him  until  it 
gave  him  all  the  magnificent  desperation  of  a  mad 
man.  He  jerked  the  grey  horse  broadside  to  the  ap 
proaching  mystery,  and  grabbing  out  his  revolver 
aimed  it  from  the  top  of  his  improvised  bulwark.  He 
hailed  the  darkness. 

"  Halt.  Who's  there  ?  "  He  had  expected  his  voice 
to  sound  like  a  groan,  but  instead  it  happened  to 
sound  clear,  stern,  commanding,  like  the  voice  of  a 
young  sentry  at  an  encampment  of  volunteers.  He 
did  not  seem  to  have  any  privilege  of  selection  as  to 
the  words.  They  were  born  of  themselves. 

He  waited  then,  blanched  and  hopeless,  for  death 
to  wing  out  of  the  darkness  and  strike  him  down.  He 
heard  a  voice.  The  voice  said  :  "  Do  you  speak  Eng 
lish?"  For  one  or  two  seconds  he  could  not  even 
understand  English,  and  then  the  great  fact  swelled 
up  and  within  him.  This  voice  with  all  its  new 
quavers  was  still  undoubtedly  the  voice  of  Prof.  Har 
rison  B.  Wainwright  of  Washurst  College. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

A  CHANGE  flashed  over  Colernan  as  if  it  had  come 
from  an  electric  storage.  He  had  known  the  pro 
fessor  long,  but  he  had  never  before  heard  a  quaver  in 
his  voice,  and  it  was  this  little  quaver  that  seemed  to 
impel  him  to  supreme  disregard  of  the  dangers  which 
he  looked  upon  as  being  the  final  dangers.  His  own 
voice  had  not  quavered. 

When  he  spoke,  he  spoke  in  a  low  tone,  it  was  the 
voice  of  the  master  of  the  situation.  He  could  hear 
his  dupes  fluttering  there  in  the  darkness.  "  Yes,"  he 
said,  "  I  speak  English.  There  is  some  danger.  Stay 
where  you  are  and  make  no  noise."  He  was  as  cool 
as  an  iced  drink.  To  be  sure  the  circumstances  had 
in  no  wise  changed  as  to  his  personal  danger,  but  be 
yond  the  important  fact  that  there  were  now  others 
to  endure  it  with  him,  he  seemed  able  to  forget  it  in  a 
strange,  unauthorized  sense  of  victory.  It  came  from 
the  professor's  quavers. 

Meanwhile  he  had  forgotten  the  dragoman,  but  he 
recalled  him  in  time  to  bid  him  wait.  Then,  as  well 
concealed  as  a  monk  hiding  in  his  cowl,  he  tip-toed 
back  into  a  group  of  people  who  knew  him  intimately. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  131 

He  discerned  two  women  mounted  on  little  horses 
and  about  them  were  dim  men.  He  could  hear  them 
breathing  hard.  "  It  is  all  right"  he  began  smoothly. 
"You  only  need  to  be  very  careful 

Suddenly  out  of  the  blackness  projected  a  half 
phosphorescent  face.  It  was  the  face  of  the  little  pro 
fessor.  He  stammered.  "  We — we — do  you  really 
speak  English?"  Coleman  in  his  feeling  of  superb 
triumph  could  almost  have  laughed.  His  nerves  were 
as  steady  as  hemp,  but  he  was  in  haste  and  his  haste 
allowed  him  to  administer  rebuke  to  his  old  professor. 
"  Didn't  you  hear  me  ?  "  he  hissed  through  his  tight 
ening  lips.  "  They  are  fighting  just  ahead  of  us  on 
the  road  and  if  you  want  to  save  yourselves  don't 
waste  time." 

Another  face  loomed  faintly  like  a  mask  painted  in 
dark  grey.  It  belonged  to  Coke,  and  it  was  a  mask 
figured  in  profound  stupefaction.  The  lips  opened 
and  tensely  breathed  out  the  name  :  "  Coleman."  In 
stantly  the  correspondent  felt  about  him  that  kind  of 
a  tumult  which  tries  to  suppress  itself.  He  knew  that 
it  was  the  most  theatric  moment  of  his  life.  He 
glanced  quickly  toward  the  two  figures  on  horseback. 
He  believed  that  one  was  making  foolish  gesticulation 
while  the  other  sat  rigid  and  silent.  This  latter  one 
he  knew  to  be  Marjory.  He  was  content  that  she  did 
not  move.  Only  a  woman  who  was  glad  he  had  come 
but  did  not  care  for  him  would  have  moved.  This  ap- 


132  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

plied  directly  to  what   he  thought  he  knew  of  Mar 
jory's  nature. 

There  was  confusion  among  the  students,  but  Cole- 
man  suppressed  it  as  in  such  situation  might  a  centu 
rion.  "  S-s-steady  !  "  He  seized  the  arm  of  the  pro 
fessor  and  drew  him  forcibly  close.  "  The  condition 
is  this,"  he  whispered  rapidly.  "  We  are  in  a  fix  with 
this  fight  on  up  the  road.  .1  was  sent  after  you,  but  I 
can't  get  you  into  the  Greek  lines  to-night.  Mrs. 
Wainwright  and  Marjory  must  dismount  and  I  and 
my  man  will  take  the  horses  on  and  hide  them.  All 
the  rest  of  you  must  go  up  about  a  hundred  feet  into 
the  woods  and  hide.  When  I  come  back,  I'll  hail  you 
and  you  answer  low."  The  professor  was  like  pulp  in 
his  grasp.  He  choked  out  the  word  "  Coleman  "  in 
agony  and  wonder,  but  he  obeyed  with  a  palpable 
gratitude.  Coleman  sprang  to  the  side  of  the  shadowy 
figure  of  Marjory.  "  Come,"  he  said  authoritatively. 
She  laid  in  his  palm  a  little  icy  cold  hand  and  dropped 
from  her  horse.  He  had  an  impulse  to  cling  to  the 
small  fingers,  but  he  loosened  them  immediately,  im 
parting  to  his  manner,  as  well  as  the  darkness  per 
mitted  him,  a  kind  of  casual  politeness  as  if  he  were 
too  intent  upon  the  business  in  hand.  He  bunched 
the  crowd  and  pushed  them  into  the  wood.  Then  he 
and  the  dragoman  took  the  horses  a  hundred  yards 
onward  and  tethered  them.  No  one  would  care  if 
they  were  stolen ;  the  great  point  was  to  get  them 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  133 

where  their  noise  would  have  no  power  of  revealing 
the  whole  party.     There  had  been  no  further  firing. 

After  he  had  tied  the  little  grey  horse  to  a  tree  he 
unroped  his  luggage  and  carried  the  most  of  it  back 
to  the  point  where  the  others  had  left  the  road.  He 
called  out  cautiously  and  received  a  sibilant  answer. 
He  and  the  dragoman  bunted  among  the  trees  until 
they  came  to  where  a  forlorn  company  was  seated 
awaiting  them,  lifting  their  faces  like  frogs  out  of  a 
pond.  His  first  question  did  not  give  them  any 
assurance.  He  said  at  once:  "Are  any  of  you 
armed  ?"  Unanimously  they  lowly  breathed  :  "  No." 
He  searched  them  out  one  by  one  and  finally  sank 
down  by  the  professor.  He  kept  sort  of  a  hypnotic 
handcuff  upon  the  dragoman,  because  he  foresaw  that 
this  man  was  really  going  to  be  the  key  to  the  best 
means  of  escape.  To  a  large  neutral  party  wandering 
between  hostile  lines  there  was  technically  no  danger, 
but  actually  there  was  a  great  deal.  Both  armies  had 
too  many  irregulars,  lawless  hillsmen  come  out  to 
fight  in  their  own  way,  and  if  they  were  encountered 
in  the  dead  of  night  on  such  hazardous  ground  the 
Greek  hillsmen  with  their  white  cross  on  a  blue  field 
would  be  precisely  as  dangerous  as  the  blood-hungry 
Albanians.  Coleman  knew  that  the  rational  way  was 
to  reach  the  Greek  lines,  and  he  had  no  intention  of 
reaching  the  Greek  lines  without  a  tongue,  and  the 
only  tongue  was  in  the  mouth  of  the  dragoman.  He 


134  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

was  correct  in  thinking  that  the  professor's  deep 
knowledge  ot  the  ancient  language  would  give  him 
small  clue  to  the  speech  of  the  modern  Greek. 

As  he  settled  himself  by  the  professor  the  band  of 
students,  eight  in  number,  pushed  their  faces  close. 

He  did  not  see  any  reason  for  speaking.  There 
were  thirty  seconds  of  deep  silence  in  which  he  felt 
that  all  were  bending  to  hearken  to  his  words  of  coun 
sel.  The  professor  huskily  broke  the  stillness.  "  Well 
*  *  *  what  are  we  to  do  now  ?  " 

Coleman  was  decisive,  indeed  absolute.  "  We'll 
stay  here  until  daylight  unless  you  care  to  get  shot." 

"  All  right,"  answered  the  professor.  He  turned 
and  made  a  useless  remark  to  his  flock.  "  Stay  here." 

Coleman  asked  civilly,  "  Have  you  had  anything 
to  eat  ?  Have  you  got  anything  to  wrap  around 
you?" 

"  We  have  absolutely  nothing,"  answered  the  pro 
fessor,  "  Our  servants  ran  away  and  *  *  and  then 
we  left  everything  behind  us  and  *  *  I've  never  been 
in  such  a  position  in  my  life." 

Coleman  moved  softly  in  the  darkness  and  un 
buckled  some  of  his  traps.  On  his  knee  he  broke  the 
hard  cakes  of  bread  and  with  his  fingers  he  broke  the 
little  tablets  of  chocolate.  These  he  distributed  to 
his  people.  And  at  this  time  he  felt  fully  the  apprecia 
tion  of  the  conduct  of  the  eight  American  college  stu 
dents.  They  had  not  yet  said  a  word — with  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  135 

exception  of  the  bewildered  exclamation  from  Coke. 
They  all  knew  him  well.  In  any  circumstance  of  life 
which  as  far  as  he  truly  believed,  they  had  yet  en 
countered,  they  would  have  been  privileged  to 
accost  him  in  every  form  of  their  remarkable  vo 
cabulary.  They  were  as  new  to  this  game  as  would 
have  been  eight  newly-caught  Apache  Indians  if  such 
were  set  to  run  the  elevators  in  the  Tract  Society 
Building.  He  could  see  their  eyes  gazing  at  him 
anxiously  and  he  could  hear  their  deep-drawn  breaths. 
But  they  said  no  word.  He  knew  that  they  were  look 
ing  upon  him  as  their  leader,  almost  as  their  saviour, 
and  he  knew  also  that  they  were  going  to  follow 
him  without  a  murmur  in  the  conviction  that  he  knew 
ten-fold  more  than  they  knew.  It  occurred  to  him  that 
his  position  was  ludicrously  false,  but,  anyhow,  he  was 
glad.  Surely  it  would  be  a  very  easy  thing  to  lead  them 
to  safety  in  the  morning  and  he  foresaw  the  credit  which 
would  come  to  him.  He  concluded  that  it  was  beneath 
his  dignity  as  preserver  to  vouchsafe  them  many  words. 
His  business  was  to  be  the  cold,  masterful,  enigmatic 
man.  It  might  be  said  that  these  reflections  were 
only  half-thoughts  in  his  mind.  Meanwhile  a  section 
of  his  intellect  was  flying  hither  and  thither,  specula 
ting  upon  the  Circassian  cavalry  and  the  Albanian 
guerillas  and  even  the  Greek  outposts. 

He  unbuckled  his  blanket  roll  and  taking  one  blanket 
placed  it  about  the  shoulders  of  the  shadow  which  was 


136  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Mrs.  Wainwright.  The  shadow  protested  incoherently, 
but  he  muttered  :  "  Oh,  that's  all  right."  Then  he  took 
his  other  blanket  and  went  to  the  shadow  which  was 
Marjory.  It  was  something  like  putting  a  wrap  about 
the  shoulders  of  a  statue.  He  was  base  enough  to  linger 
in  the  hopes  that  he  could  detect  some  slight  trem 
bling,  but  as  far  as  he  knew  she  was  of  stone.  His 
macintosh  he  folded  around  the  body  of  the  professor 
amid  quite  senile  protest,  so  senile  that  the  professor 
seemed  suddenly  proven  to  him  as  an  old,  old  man,  a 
fact  which  had  never  occurred  to  Washurst  or  her  chil 
dren.  Then  he  went  to  the  dragoman  and  pre-empted 
half  of  his  blankets.  The  dragoman  grunted,  but  Cole- 
man  was  panther-fashion  with  him.  It  would  not  do  to 
have  this  dragoman  develop  a  luxurious  temperament 
when  eight  American  college  students  were,  without 
speech,  shivering  in  the  cold  night.  • 

Coleman  really  begun  to  ruminate  upon  his  glory, 
but  he  found  that  he  could  not  do  this  well  without 
smoking,  so  he  crept  away  some  distance  from  this 
fireless  encampment,  and  bending  his  face  to  the 
ground  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  he  struck  a  match  and  lit 
a  cigar,  His  return  to  the  others  would  have  been 
somewhat  in  the  manner  of  coolness  as  displayed  on 
the  stage  if  he  had  not  been  prevented  by  the  neces 
sity  of  making  no  noise.  He  saw  regarding  him  as 
before  the  dimly  visible  eyes  of  the  eight  students  and 
Marjory  and  her  father  and  mother.  Then  he  whis- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  137 

pered  the  conventional  words.  "  Go  to  sleep  if  you 
can.  You'll  need  your  strength  in  the  morning.  I 
and  this  man  here  will  keep  watch."  Three  of  the  col 
lege  students  of  course  crawled  up  to  him  and  each 
said  :  "  I'll  keep  watch,  old  man." 

"No.  We'll  keep  watch.  You  people  try  to 
sleep." 

He  deemed  that  it  might  be  better  to  yield  the  dra 
goman  his  blanket,  and  so  he  got  up  and  leaned 
against  a  tree,  holding  his  hand  to  cover  the  brilliant 
point  of  his  cigar.  He  knew  perfectly  well  that  none 
of  them  could  sleep.  But  he  stood  there  somewhat 
like  a  sentry  without  the  attitude,  but  with  all  the 
effect  of  responsibility. 

He  had  no  doubt  but  what  escape  to  civilisation 
would  be  easy,  but  anyhow  his  heroism  should  be  pre 
served.  He  was  the  rescuer.  His  thoughts  of  Mar 
jory  were  somewhat  in  a  puzzle.  The  meeting  had 
placed  him  in  such  a  position  that  he  had  expected  a 
lot  of  condescension  on  his  own  part.  Instead  she  had 
exhibited  about  as  much  recognition  of  him  as  would  a 
stone  fountain  on  his  grandfather's  place  in  Connecti 
cut.  This  in  his  opinion  was  not  the  way  to  greet  the 
knight  who  had  come  to  the  rescue  of  his  lady.  He 
had  not  expected  it  so  to  happen.  In  fact  from 
Athens  to  this  place  he  had  engaged  himself  with 
imagery  of  possible  meetings.  He  was  vexed,  cer 
tainly,  but,  far  beyond  that,  he  knew  a  deeper  admira- 


138  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

tion  for  this  girl.  To  him  she  represented  the  sex,  and 
so  the  sex  as  embodied  in  her  seemed  a  mystery  to  be 
feared.  He  wondered  if  safety  came  on  the  morrow  he 
would  not  surrender  to  this  feminine  invulnerability. 
She  had  not  done  anything  that  he  had  expected  of 
her  and  so  inasmuch  as  he  loved  her  he  loved  her  more. 
It  was  bewitching.  He  half  considered  himself  a  fool. 
But  at  any  rate  he  thought  resentfully  she  should  be 
thankful  to  him  for  having  rendered  her  a  great  ser 
vice.  However,  when  he  came  to  consider  this  propo 
sition  he  knew  that  on  a  basis  of  absolute  manly 
endeavour  he  had  rendered  her  little  or  no  service. 
The  night  was  long. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COLEMAN  suddenly  found  himself  looking  upon  his 
pallid  dragoman.  He  saw  that  he  had  been  asleep 
crouched  at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  Without  any  ex 
change  of  speech  at  all  he  knew  there  had  been 
alarming  noises.  Then  shots  sounded  from  near  by. 
Some  were  from  rifles  aimed  in  that  direction  and 
some  were  from  rifles  opposed  to  them.  This  was 
distinguishable  to  the  experienced  man,  but  all  that 
Coleman  knew  was  that  the  conditions  of  danger  were 
now  triplicated.  Unconsciously  he  stretched  his 
hands  in  supplication  over  his  charges.  "  Don't  move  ! 
Don't  move  !  And  keep  close  to  the  ground  !  "  All 
heeded  him  but  Marjory.  She  still  sat  straight.  He 
himself  was  on  his  feet,  but  he  now  knew  the  sound 
of  bullets,  and  he  knew  that  no  bullets  had  spun 
through  the  trees.  He  could  not  see  her  distinctly, 
but  it  was  known  to  him  in  some  way  that  she  was 
mutinous.  He  leaned  toward  her  and  spoke  as 
harshly  as  possible.  "  Marjory,  get  down  !  "  She 
wavered  for  a  moment  as  if  resolved  to  defy  him.  As 
he  turned  again  to  peer  in  the  direction  of  the  firing  it 
went  through  his  mind  that  she  must  love  him  very 
much  indeed.  He  was  assured  of  it. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

It  must  have  been  some  small  outpour  between  ner 
vous  pickets  and  eager  hillsmen,  for  it  ended  in  a  mo 
ment.  The  party  waited  in  abasement  for  what 
seemed  to  them  a  long  time,  and  the  blue  dawn  began 
to  laggardly  shift  the  night  as  they  waited.  The 
dawn  itself  seemed  prodigiously  long  in  arriving  at 
anything  like  discernible  landscape.  When  this  was 
consummated,  Coleman,  in  somewhat  the  manner  of 
the  father  of  a  church,  dealt  bits  of  chocolate  out  to 
the  others.  He  had  already  taken  the  precaution  to 
confer  with  the  dragoman,  so  he  said  :  "  Well,  come 
ahead.  We'll  make  a  try  for  it."  They  arose  at  his 
bidding  and  followed  him  to  the  road.  It  was  the 
same  broad,  white  road,  only  that  the  white  was  in  the 
dawning  something  like  the  grey  of  a  veil.  It  took 
some  courage  to  venture  upon  this  thoroughfare,  but 
Coleman  stepped  out  after  looking  quickly  in  both 
directions.  The  party  tramped  to  where  the  horses 
had  been  left,  and  there  they  were  found  without 
change  of  a  rope.  Coleman  rejoiced  to  see  that  his 
dragoman  now  followed  him  in  the  way  of  a  good 
lieutenant.  They  both  dashed  in  among  the  trees 
and  had  the  horses  out  into  the  road  in  a  twinkle. 
When  Coleman  turned  to  direct  that  utterly  subser 
vient  group  he  kn-ew  that  his  face  was  drawn  from 
hardship  and  anxiety,  but  he  saw  everywhere  the 
same  style  of  face  with  the  exception  of  the  face  of 
Marjory,  who  looked  simply  of  lovely  marble.  He 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  141 

noted  with  a  curious  satisfaction,  as  if  the  thing  was  a 
tribute  to  himself,  that  his  macintosh  was  over  the 
professor's  shoulder,  that  Marjory  and  her  mother 
were  each  carrying  a  blanket,  and  that  the  corps  of 
students  had  dutifully  brought  all  the  traps  which  his 
dragoman  had  forgotten.  It  was  grand. 

He  addressed  them  to  say :  "  Now,  approaching 
outposts  is  very  dangerous  business  at  this  time  in  the 
morning.  So  my  man,  who  can  talk  both  Greek  and 
Turkish,  will  go  ahead  forty  yards,  and  I  will  follow 
somewhere  between  him  and  you.  Try  not  to  crowd 
forward." 

He  directed  the  ladies  upon  their  horses  and 
placed  the  professor  upon  the  little  grey  nag.  Then 
they  took  up  their  line  of  march.  The  dragoman  had 
looked  somewhat  dubiously  upon  this  plan  of  having 
him  go  forty  yards  in  advance,  but  he  had  the  utmost 
confidence  in  this  new  Coleman,  whom  yesterday  he 
had  not  known.  Besides,  he  himself  was  a  very  gal 
lant  man  indeed,  and  it  befitted  him  to  take  the  post 
of  danger  before  the  eyes  of  all  these  foreigners.  In 
his  new  position  he  was  as  proud  and  unreasonable  as 
a  rooster.  He  was  continually  turning  his  head  to 
scowl  back  at  them,  when  only  the  clank  of  hoofs  was 
sounding.  An  impenetrable  mist  lay  on  the  valley 
and  the  hill-tops  were  shrouded.  As  for  the  people, 
they  were  like  mice.  Coleman  paid  no  attention  to 


H2  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  Wainwright  party,  but  walked  steadily  along  near 
the  dragoman. 

Perhaps  the  whole  thing  was  a  trifle  absurd,  but  to 
a  great  percentage  of  the  party  it  was  terrible.  For 
instance,  those  eight  boys,  fresh  from  a  school,  could 
in  no  wise  gauge  the  dimensions.  And  if  this  was  true 
of  the  students,  it  was  more  distinctly  true  of  Marjory 
and  her  mother.  As  for  the  professor,  he  seemed 
weighted  to  the  earth  by  his  love  and  his  responsibility. 
Suddenly  the  dragoman  wheeled  and  made 
demoniac  signs.  Coleman  half-turned  to  survey  the 
main  body,  and  then  paid  his  attention  swiftly  to  the 
front.  The  white  road  sped  to  the  top  of  a  hill  where 
it  seemed  to  make  a  rotund  swing  into  oblivion.  The 
top  of  the  curve  was  framed  in  foliage,  and  therein 
was  a  horseman.  He  had  his  carbine  slanted  on  his 
thigh,  and  his  bridle-reins  taut.  Upon  sight  of  them 
he  immediately  wheeled  and  galloped  down  the  other 
slope  and  vanished. 

The  dragoman  was  throwing  wild  gestures  into  the 
air.  As  Coleman  looked  back  at  the  Wainwright 
party  he  saw  plainly  that  to  an  ordinary  eye  they 
might  easily  appear  as  a  strong  advance  of  troops. 
The  peculiar  light  would  emphasize  such  theory. 
The  dragoman  ran  to  him  jubilantly,  but  he  contained 
now  a  form  of  intelligence  which  caused  him  to 
whisper :  "  That  was  one  Greek.  That  was  one 
Greek — what  do  you  call — sentree  ?  " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  143 

Coleman  addressed  the  others.  He  said  :  "  It's  all 
right.  Come  ahead.  That  was  a  Greek  picket. 
There  is  only  one  trouble  now,  and  that  is  to  approach 
them  easy — do  you  see — easy." 

His  obedient  charges  came  forward  at  his  word. 
When  they  arrived  at  the  top  of  this  rise  they  saw 
nothing.  Coleman  was  very  uncertain.  He  was  not 
sure  that  this  picket  had  not  carried  with  him  a 
general  alarm,  and  in  that  case  there  would  soon 
occur  a  certain  amount  of  shooting.  However,  as  far 
as  he  understood  the  business,  there  was  no  way  but 
forward.  Inasmuch  as  he  did  not  indicate  to  the 
Wainwright  party  that  he  wished  them  to  do  differ 
ently,  they  followed  on  doggedly  after  him  and  the 
dragoman.  He  knew  now  that  the  dragoman's  heart 
had  for  the  tenth  time  turned  to  dog-biscuit,  so  he 
kept  abreast  of  him.  And  soon  together  they  walked 
into  a  cavalry  outpost,  commanded  by  no  less  a  per 
son  than  the  dashing  young  captain,  who  came  laugh 
ing  out  to  meet  them. 

Suddenly  losing  all  colour  of  war,  the  condition  was 
now  such  as  might  occur  in  a  drawing  room.  Cole 
man  felt  the  importance  of  establishing  highly  conven 
tional  relations  between  the  captain  and  the  Wain 
wright  party.  To  compass  this  he  first  seized  his 
dragoman,  and  the  dragoman,  enlightened  immediately, 
spun  a  series  of  lies  which  must  have  led  the  captain 
to  believe  that  the  entire  heart  of  the  American  repub 


144  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

lie  had  been  taken  out  of  that  western  continent  and 
transported  to  Greece.  Coleman  was  proud  of  the 
captain.  The  latter  immediately  went  and  bowed  in 
the  manner  of  the  French  school  and  asked  everybody 
to  have  a  cup  of  coffee,  although  acceptation  would 
have  proved  his  ruin  and  disgrace.  Coleman  refused 
in  the  name  of  courtesy.  He  called  his  party  for 
ward,  and  now  they  proceeded  merely  as  one  crowd. 
Marjory  had  dismounted  in  the  meantime. 

The  moment  was  come.  Coleman  felt  it.  The  first 
rush  was  from  the  students.  Immediately  he  was 
buried  in  a  thrashing  mob  of  them.  "  Good  boy ! 
Good  boy!  Great  man!  Oh,  isn't  he  a  peach? 
How  did  he  do  it?  He  came  in  strong  at  the  finish  ! 
Good  boy,  Coleman  !  "  Through  this  mist  of  glowing 
youthful  congratulation  he  saw  the  professor  standing 
at  the  outskirts  with  direct  formal  thanks  already 
moving  on  his  lips,  while  near  him  his  wife  wept 
joyfully.  Marjory  was  evidently  enduring  some 
inscrutable  emotion. 

After  all,  it  did  penetrate  his  mind  that  it  was  in 
decent  to  accept  all  this  wild  gratitude,  but  there  was 
built  within  him  no  intention  of  positively  declaring 
himself  lacking  in  all  credit,  or  at  least,  lacking  in  all 
credit  in  the  way  their  praises  defined  it.  In  truth 
he  had  assisted  them,  but  he  had  been  at  the  time 
largely  engaged  in  assisting  himself,  and  their  coming 
had  been  more  of  a  boon  to  his  loneliness  than  an 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  145 

addition  to  his  care.  However,  he  soon  had  no  diffi 
culty  in  making  his  conscience  appropriate  every  line 
in  these  hymns  sung  in  his  honour.  The  students,  curi 
ously  wise  of  men,  thought  his  conduct  quite  perfect. 
"  Oh,  say,  come  off  !  "  he  protested.  "  Why,  I  didn't 
do  anything.  You  fellows  are  crazy.  You  would  have 
gotten  in  all  right  by  yourselves.  Don't  act  like 
asses — 

As  soon  as  the  professor  had  opportunity  he  came 
to  Coleman.  He  was  a  changed  little  man,  and  his 
extraordinary  bewilderment  showed  in  his  face.  It 
was  the  disillusion  and  amazement  of  a  stubborn  mind 
that  had  gone  implacably  in  its  one  direction  and  found 
in  the  end  that  the  direction  was  all  wrong,  and  that 
really  a  certain  mental  machine  had  not  been  infallible. 
Coleman  remembered  what  the  American  minister  in 
Athens  had  described  of  his  protests  against  the  start 
ing  of  the  professor's  party  on  this  journey,  and  of  the 
complete  refusal  of  the  professor  to  recognise  any 
value  in  the  advice.  And  here  now  was  the  conse 
quent  defeat.  It  was  mirrored  in  the  professor's 
astonished  eyes.  Coleman  went  directly  to  his  dazed 
old  teacher.  "  Well,  you're  out  of  it  now,  professor," 
he  said  warmly.  "  I  congratulate  you  on  your  escape, 
sir."  The  professor  looked  at  him,  helpless  to  express 
himself,  but  the  correspondent  was  at  that  time  sud 
denly  enveloped  in  the  hysterical  gratitude  of  Mrs. 
Wainwright,  who  hurled  herself  upon- him  with  ex- 


146  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

travagant  manifestations.  Coleman  played  his  part 
with  skill.  To  both  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright  his  manner  was  a  combination  of  modestly  filial 
affection  and  a  pretentious  disavowal  of  his  having 
done  anything  at  all.  It  seemed  to  charm  everybody 
but  Marjory.  It  irritated  him  to  see  that  she  was 
apparently  incapable  of  acknowledging  that  he  was  a 
grand  man. 

He  was  actually  compelled  to  go  to  her  and  offer 
congratulations  upon  her  escape,  as  he  had  congratu 
lated  the  professor. 

If  his  manner  to  her  parents  had  been  filial,  his 
manner  to  her  was  parental.  "  Well,  Marjory,"  he 
said  kindly,  "you  have  been  in  considerable  danger. 
I  suppose  you're  glad  to  be  through  with  it."  She  at 
that  time  made  no  reply,  but  by  her  casual  turn  he 
knew  that  he  was  expected  to  walk  along  by  her  side. 
The  others  knew  it,  too,  and  the  rest  of  the  party  left 
them  free  to  walk  side  by  side  in  the  rear. 

"  This  is  a  beautiful  country  here-abouts  if  one  gets 
a  good  chance  to  see  it,"  he  remarked.  Then  he 
added  :  "  But  I  suppose  you  had  a  view  of  it  when 
you  were  going  out  to  Nikopolis?  " 

She  answered  in  muffled  tones.  "Yes,  we  thought 
it  very  beautiful." 

"  Did  you  note  those  streams  from  the  mountains  ? 
That  seemed  to  me  the  purest  water  I'd  ever  seen, 
but  I  bet  it  would  make  one  ill  to  drink  it.  There  is, 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  147 

you  know,  a  prominent  German  chemist  who  has 
almost  proven  that  really  pure  water  is  practical  poi 
son  to  the  human  stomach/* 

"  Yes  ?  "  she  said. 

There  was  a  period  of  silence,  during  which  he 
was  perfectly  comfortable  because  he  knew  that  she 
was  ill  at  ease.  If  the  silence  was  awkward,  she  was 
suffering  from  it.  As  for  himself,  he  had  no  inclination 
to  break  it.  His  position  was,  as  far  as  the  entire 
Wainwright  party  was  concerned,  a  place  where 
he  could  afford  to  wait.  She  turned  to  him  at  last. 
"  Of  course,  I  know  how  much  you  have  done  for  us, 
and  I  want  you  to  feel  that  we  all  appreciate  it 
deeply — deeply."  There  was  discernible  to  the  ear  a 
certain  note  of  desperation. 

"  Oh,  not  at  all,"  he  said  generously.  "  Not  at  all. 
I  didn't  do  anything.  It  was  quite  an  accident. 
Don't  let  that  trouble  you  for  a  moment." 

"  Well,  of  course  you  would  say  that,"  she  said 
more  steadily.  "  But  I — we — we  know  how  good  and 
how — brave  it  was  in  you  to  come  for  us,  and  I — we 
must  never  forget  it." 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  replied  Coleman,  with  an  ap 
pearance  of  ingenuous  candor,  "  I  was  sent  out  here 
by  the  Eclipse  to  find  you  people,  and  of  course  I 
worked  rather  hard  to  reach  you,  but  the  final 
meeting  was  purely  accidental  and  does  not  redound 
to  my  credit  in  the  least." 


148  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

As  he  had  anticipated,  Marjory  shot  him  a  little 
glance  of  disbelief.  "  Of  course  you  would  say  that," 
she  repeated  with  gloomy  but  flattering  conviction. 

"  Oh,  if  I  had  been  a  great  hero,"  he  said  smiling, 
"  no  doubt  I  would  have  kept  up  this  same  manner 
which  now  sets  so  well  upon  me,  but  I  am  telling  you 
the  truth  when  I  say  that  I  had  no  part  in  your 
rescue  at  all." 

She  became  slightly  indignant.  "  Oh,  if  you  care  to 
tell  us  constantly  that  you  were  of  no  service  to  us,  I 
don't  see  what  we  can  do  but  continue  to  declare  that 
you  were." 

Suddenly  he  felt  vulgar.  He  spoke  to  her  this  time 
with  real  meaning.  "  I  beg  of  you  never  to  mention 
it  again.  That  will  be  the  best  way." 

But  to  this  she  would  not  accede.  "  No,  we  will 
often  want  to  speak  of  it." 

He  replied  :  "  How  do  you  like  Greece  ?  Don't  you 
think  that  some  of  these  ruins  are  rather  out  of  shape 
in  the  popular  mind  ?  Now,  for  my  part,  I  would 
rather  look  at  a  good  strong  finish  at  a  horserace  than 
to  see  ten  thousand  Parthenons  in  a  bunch." 

She  was  immediately  in  the  position  of  defending 
him  from  himself.  "  You  would  rather  see  no  such 
thing.  You  shouldn't  talk  in  that  utterly  trivial  way. 
I  like  the  Parthenon,  of  course,  but  I  can't  think  of  it 
now  because  my  head  is  too  full  of  my  escape  from 
where  I  was  so — so  frightened," 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  149 

Coleman  grinned.     "  Were  you  really  frightened  ?  " 

"  Naturally,"  she  answered.  "  I  suppose  I  \\  as 
more  frightened  for  mother  and  father,  but  I  was 
frightened  enough  for  myself.  It  was  not — not  a  nice 
thing." 

"  No,  it  wasn't,"  said  Coleman.  "  I  could  hardly 
believe  my  senses  when  the  minister  at  Athens  told 
me  that  you  all  had  ventured  into  such  a  trap,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  what  you  can  be  glad  that  you 
are  well  out  of  it." 

She  seemed  to  have  some  struggle  with  herself  and 
then  she  deliberately  said  :  "Thanks  to  you." 

Coleman  embarked  on  what  he  intended  to  make  a 
series  of  high-minded  protests.  "  Not  at  all—  '  but 
at  that  moment  the  dragoman  whirled  back  from  the 
van-guard  with  a  great  collection  of  the  difficulties 
which  had  been  gathering  upon  him.  Coleman  was 
obliged  to  resign  Marjory  and  again  take  up  the  active 
leadership.  He  disposed  of  the  dragoman's  difficul 
ties  mainly  by  declaring  that  they  were  not  difficulties 
at  all.  He  had  learned  that  this  was  the  way  to  deal 
with  dragomen. 

The  fog  had  already  lifted  from  the  valley  and  as 
they  passed  along  the  wooded  mountain-side  the 
fragrance  of  leaves  and  earth  came  to  them.  Ahead, 
along  the  hooded  road,  they  could  see  the  blue  clad 
figures  of  Greek  infantrymen.  Finally  they  passed  an 
encampment  of  a  battalion  whose  line  was  at  a  right 


ISO  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

angle  to  the  highway.  A  hundred  yards  in  advance 
was  the  bridge  across  the  Louros  river.  And  there  a 
battery  of  artillery  was  encamped.  The  dragoman 
became  involved  in  all  sorts  of  discussions  with  other 
Greeks,  but  Coleman  stuck  to  his  elbow  and  stifled  all 
aimless  oration.  The  Wainwright  party  waited  for 
them  in  the  rear  in  an  observant  but  patient  group. 

Across  a  plain,  the  hills  directly  behind  Arta  loomed 
up  showing  the  straight  yellow  scar  of  a  modern 
entrenchment.  To  the  north  of  Arta  were  some  grey 
mountains  with  a  dimly  marked  road  winding  to  the 
summit.  On  one  side  of  this  road  were  two  shadows. 
It  took  a  moment  for  the  eye  to  find  these  shadows, 
but  when  this  was  accomplished  it  was  plain  that  they 
were  men.  The  captain  of  the  battery  explained  to 
the  dragoman  that  he  did  not  know  that  they  were 
not  also  Turks.  In  which  case  the  road  to  Arta  was  a 
dangerous  path.  It  was  no  good  news  to  Coleman. 
He  waited  a  moment  in  order  to  gain  composure  and 
then  walked  back  to  the  Wainwright  party.  They 
must  have  known  at  once  from  his  peculiar  gravity 
that  all  was  not  well.  Five  of  the  students  and  the 
professor  immediately  asked  :  "  What  is  it  ?  " 

He  had  at  first  some  old-fashioned  idea  of  conceal 
ing  the  ill  tidings  from  the  ladies,  but  he  perceived 
what  flagrant  nonsense  this  would  be  in  circumstances 
in  which  all  were  fairly  likely  to  incur  equal  dangers, 
and  at  any  rate  he  did  not  see  his  way  clear  to  allow 


ACTIVE  SERVICE  151 

their  imagination  to  run  riot  over  a  situation  which 
might  not  turn  out  to  be  too  bad.  He  said  slowly : 
"  You  see  those  mountains  over  there?  Well,  troops 
have  been  seen  there  and  the  captain  of  this  battery 
thinks  they  are  Turks.  If  they  are  Turks  the  road  to 
Arta  is  distinctly — er — unsafe." 

This  new  blow  first  affected  the  Wainwright  party 
as  being  too  much  to  endure.  They  thought  they 
had  gone  through  enough.  This  was  a  general  senti 
ment.  Afterward  the  emotion^took  colour  according 
to  the  individual  character.  One  student  laughed  and 
said  :  "  Well,  I  see  our  finish." 

Another  student  piped  out :  "  How  do  they  know 
they  are  Turks?  What  makes  them  think  they  are 
Turks  ?  " 

Another  student  expressed  himself  with  a  sigh. 
"This  is  a  long  way  from  the  Bowery." 

The  professor  said  nothing  but  looked  annihilated  ; 
Mrs.  Wainwright  wept  profoundly ;  Marjory  looked 
expectantly  toward  Coleman. 

As  for  the  correspondent  he  was  adamantine  and 
reliable  and  stern,  for  he  had  not  the  slightest  idea 
that  those  men  on  the  distant  hill  were  Turks  at  all. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  OH,"  said  a  student,  "  this  game  ought  to  quit. 
I  feel  like  thirty  cents.  We  didn't  come  out  here  to 
be  pursued  about  the  country  by  these  Turks.  Why 
don't  they  stop  it  ?  " 

Coleman  was  remarking :  "  Really,  the  only  sensible 
thing  to  do  now  is  to  have  breakfast.  There  is  no  use 
in  worrying  ourselves  silly  over  this  thing  until  we've 
got  to." 

They  spread  the  blankets  on  the  ground  and  sat 
about  a  feast  of  bread,  water  cress  and  tinned  beef. 
Coleman  was  the  real  host,  but  he  contrived  to  make 
the  professor  appear  as  that  honourable  person.  They 
ate,  casting  their  eyes  from  time  to  time  at  the  distant 
mountain  with  its  two  shadows.  People  began  to  fly 
down  the  road  from  Jannina,  peasants  hurriedly  driv 
ing  little  flocks,  women  and  children  on  donkeys  and 
little  horses  which  they  clubbed  unceasingly.  One 
man  rode  at  a  gallop,  shrieking  and  flailing  his  arms  in 
the  air.  They  were  all  Christian  peasants  of  Turkey, 
but  they  were  in  flight  now  because  they  did  not  wish 
to  be  at  home  if  the  Turk  was  going  to  return  and 
reap  revenge  for  his  mortification.  The  Wainwright 
party  looked  at  Coleman  in  abrupt  questioning. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  153 

"  Oh,  it's  all  right,"  he  said,  easily.  "  They  are  al 
ways  taking  on  that  way." 

Suddenly  the  dragoman  gave  a  shout  and  dashed 
up  the  road  to  the  scene  of  a  melee,  where  a  little  rat- 
faced  groom  was  vociferously  defending  three  horses 
from  some  Greek  officers,  who  as  vociferously  were 
stating  their  right  to  requisition  them.  Coleman  ran 
after  his  dragoman.  There  was  a  sickening  pow-wow, 
but  in  the  end  Coleman,  straight  and  easy  in  the  sad 
dle,  came  cantering  back  on  a  superb  open-mouthed 
snorting  bay  horse.  He  did  not  mind  if  the  half-wild 
animal  plunged  crazily.  It  was  part  of  his  role. 
"  They  were  trying  to  steal  my  horses,"  he  explained. 
He  leaped  to  the  ground,  and  holding  the  horse  by 
the  bridle,  he  addressed  his  admiring  companions. 
"  The  groom — the  man  who  has  charge  of  the  horses 
— says  that  he  thinks  that  the  people  on  the  moun 
tain-side  are  Turks,  but  I  don't  see  how  that  is  pos 
sible.  You  see—  '  he  pointed  wisely — "  that  road 
leads  directly  south  to  Arta,  and  it  is  hardly  possible 
that  the  Greek  army  would  come  over  here  and  leave 
that  approach  to  Arta  utterly  unguarded.  It  would 
be  too  foolish.  They  must  have  left  some  men  to 
cover  it,  and  that  is  certainly  what  those  troops  are. 
If  you  are  all  ready  and  willing,  I  don't  see  anything 
to  do  but  make  a  good,  stout-hearted  dash  for  Arta. 
It  would  be  no  more  dangerous  than  to  sit  here." 

The  professor  was  at  last  able  to  make  his  formal 


154  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

speech.  "  Mr.  Coleman,"  he  said  distinctly,  "  we 
place  ourselves  entirely  in  your  hands."  It  was  some 
how  pitiful.  This  man  who,  for  years  and  years  had 
reigned  in  a  little  college  town  almost  as  a  monarch, 
passing  judgment  with  the  air  of  one  who  words  the 
law,  dealing  criticism  upon  the  universe  as  one  to 
whom  all  things  are  plain,  publicly  disdaining  defeat 
as  one  to  whom  all  things  are  easy — this  man  was  now 
veritably  appealing  to  Coleman  to  save  his  wife,  his 
daughter  and  himself,  and  really  declared  himself  de 
pendent  for  safety  upon  the  ingenuity  and  courage  of 
the  correspondent. 

The  attitude  of  the  students  was  utterly  indifferent. 
They  did  not  consider  themselves  helpless  at  all. 
They  were  evidently  quite  ready  to  withstand  any 
thing  but  they  looked  frankly  up  to  Coleman  as  their 
intelligent  leader.  If  they  suffered  any,  their  only  ex 
pression  of  it  was  in  the  simple  grim  slang  of  their 
period. 

"  I  wish  I  was  at  Coney  Island." 

"  This  is  not  so  bad  as  trigonometry,  but  it's  worse 
than  playing  billiards  for  the  beers." 

And  Coke  said  privately  to  Coleman  :  "  Say,  what 
in  hell  are  these  two  damn  peoples  fighting  for, 
anyhow?" 

When  he  saw  that  all  opinions  were  in  favour  of 
following  him  loyally,  Coleman  was  impelled  to  feel  a 
responsibility.  He  was  now  no  errant  rescuer,  but  a 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  155 

properly  elected  leader  of  fellow  beings  in  distress. 
While  one  of  the  students  held  his  horse,  he  took  the 
dragoman  for  another  consultation  with  the  captain  of 
the  battery.  The  officer  was  sitting  on  a  large  stone, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  into  his  field  glasses.  When 
again  questioned  he  could  give  no  satisfaction  as  to 
the  identity  of  the  troops  on  the  distant  mountain. 
He  merely  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  said  that  if  they 
were  Greeks  it  was  very  good,  but  if  they  were  Turks 
it  was  very  bad.  He  seemed  more  occupied  in  trying 
to  impress  the  correspondent  that  it  was  a  matter  of 
soldierly  indifference  to  himself.  Coleman,  after 
loathing  him  sufficiently  in  silence,  returned  to  the 
others  and  said  :  "  Well,  we'll  chance  it." 

They  looked  to  him  to  arrange  the  caravan. 
Speaking  to  the  men  of  the  party  he  said :  "  Of 
course,  any  one  of  you  is  welcome  to  my  horse  if  you 
can  ride  it,  but — if  you're  not  too  tired — I  think  I  had 
myself  better  ride,  so  that  I  can  go  ahead  at  times." 

His  manner  was  so  fine  as  he  said  this  that  the  stu 
dents  seemed  fairly  to  worship  him.  Of  course  it  had 
been  most  improbable  that  any  of  them  could  have 
ridden  that  volcanic  animal  even  if  one  of  them  had 
tried  it. 

He  saw  Mrs.  Wainwright  and  Marjory  upon  the 
backs  of  their  two  little  natives,  and  hoisted  the  pro 
fessor  into  the  saddle  of  the  groom's  horse,  leaving 
instructions  with  the  servant  to  lead  the  animal 


156  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

always  and  carefully.  He  and  the  dragoman  then 
mounted  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  and  amid 
curious  questionings  from  the  soldiery  they  crossed 
the  bridge  and  started  on  the  trail  to  Arta.  The  rear 
was  brought  up  by  the  little  grey  horse  with  the  lug 
gage,  led  by  one  student  and  flogged  by  another. 

Coleman,  checking  with  difficulty  the  battling 
disposition  of  his  horse,  was  very  uneasy  in  his  mind 
because  the  last  words  of  the  captain  of  the  battery 
had  made  him  feel  that  perhaps  on  this  ride  he  would 
be  placed  in  a  position  where  only  the  best  courage 
would  count,  and  he  did  not  see  his  way  clear  to 
feeling  very  confident  about  his  conduct  in  such  a  case. 
Looking  back  upon  the  caravan,  he  saw  it  as  a  most 
unwieldy  thing,  not  even  capable  of  running  away. 
He  hurried  it  with  sudden,  sharp  contemptuous 
phrases. 

On  the  march  there  incidentally  flashed  upon  him  a 
new  truth.  More  than  half  of  that  student  band  were 
deeply  in  love  with  Marjory.  Of  course,  when  he  had 
been  distant  from  her  he  had  had  an  eternal  jealous 
reflection  to  that  effect.  It  was  natural  that  he  should 
have  thought  of  the  intimate  camping  relations  between 
Marjory  and  these  young  students  with  a  great  deal  of 
bitterness,  grinding  his  teeth  when  picturing  their  op 
portunities  to  make  Marjory  fall  in  love  with  some  one 
of  them.  He  had  raged  particularly  about  Coke,  whose 
father  had  millions  of  dollars.  But  he  had  forgotten 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  157 

all  these  jealousies  in  the  general  splendour  of  his  ex 
ploits.  Now,  when  he  saw  the  truth,  it  seemed  to 
bring  him  back  to  his  common  life,  and  he  saw  himself 
suddenly  as  not  being  frantically  superior  in  any  way 
to  those  other  young  men.  The  more  closely  he 
looked  at  this  last  fact,  the  more  convinced  he  was  of 
its  truth.  He  seemed  to  see  that  he  had  been  improp 
erly  elated  over  his  services  to  the  Wainwrights,  and 
that  in  the  end  the  girl  might  fancy  a  man  because  the 
man  had  done  her  no  service  at  all.  He  saw  his  proud 
position  lower  itself  to  be  a  pawn  in  the  game. 
Looking  back  over  the  students,  he  wondered  which 
one  Marjory  might  love.  This  hideous  Nikopolis  had 
given  eight  men  a  chance  to  win  her.  His  scorn  and 
his  malice  quite  centered  upon  Coke,  for  he  could  never 
forget  that  the  man's  father  had  millions  of  dollars. 
The  unfortunate  Coke  chose  that  moment  to  address 
him  querulously  :  "  Look  here,  Coleman,  can't  you  tell 
us  how  far  it  is  to  Arta  ?  " 

"  Coke,"  said  Coleman,  "  I  don't  suppose  you  take 
me  for  a  tourist  agency,  but  if  you  can  only  try  to 
distinguish  between  me  and  a  map  with  the  scale  of 
miles  printed  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner,  you  will 
not  contribute  so  much  to  the  sufferings  of  the  party 
which  you  now  adorn." 

The  students  within  hearing  guffawed  and  Coke  re 
tired  in  confusion. 

The  march  was  not  rapid.     Coleman  almost   wore 


158  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

out  his  arms  holding  in  check  his  impetuous  horse. 
Often  the  caravan  floundered  through  mud,  while  at 
the  same  time  a  hot,  yellow  dust  came  from  the  north. 
They  were  perhaps  half  way  to  Arta  when  Coleman 
decided  that  a  rest  and  luncheon  were  the  things  to  be 
considered.  He  halted  his  troop  then  in  the  shade  of 
some  great  trees,  and  privately  he  bade  his  dragoman 
prepare  the  best  feast  which  could  come  out  of  those 
saddle-bags  fresh  from  Athens.  The  result  was  rather 
gorgeous  in  the  eyes  of  the  poor  wanderers.  First  of 
all  there  were  three  knives,  three  forks,  three  spoons, 
three  tin  cups  and  three  tin  plates,  which  the  entire 
party  of  twelve  used  on  a  most  amiable  socialistic 
principle.  There  were  crisp,  salty  biscuits  and  olives, 
for  which  they  speared  in  the  bottle.  There  was  pot 
ted  turkey,  and  potted  ham,  and  potted  tongue,  all 
tasting  precisely  alike.  There  were  sardines  and  the 
ordinary  tinned  beef,  disguised  sometimes  with  onions, 
carrots  and  potatoes.  Out  of  the  saddle-bags  came 
pepper  and  salt  and  even  mustard.  The  dragoman 
made  coffee  over  a  little  fire  of  sticks  that  blazed  with 
a  white  light.  The  whole  thing  was  prodigal,  but  any 
philanthropist  would  have  approved  of  it  if  he  could 
have  seen  the  way  in  which  the  eight  students  laid 
into  the  spread.  When  there  came  a  polite  remon 
strance — notably  from  Mrs.  Wainwright — Coleman 
merely  pointed  to  a  large  bundle  strapped  back  of  the 
groom's  saddle.  During  the  coffee  he  was  consider- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  159 

ing  how  best  to  get  the  students  one  by  one  out  of  the 
sight  of  the  Wainwrights  where  he  could  give  them 
good  drinks  of  whisky. 

There  was  an  agitation  on  the  road  toward  Arta. 
Some  people  were  coming  on  horses.  He  paid  small 
heed  until  he  heard  a  thump  of  pausing  hoofs  near 
him,  and  a  musical  voice  say:  "  Rufus!  " 

He  looked  up  quickly,  and  then  all  present  saw  his 
eyes  really  bulge.  There  on  a  fat  and  glossy  horse 
sat  Nora  Black,  dressed  in  probably  one  of  the  most 
correct  riding  habits  which  had  ever  been  seen  in  the 
East.  She  was  smiling  a  radiant  smile,  which  held 
the  eight  students  simply  spell-bound.  They  would 
have  recognised  her  if  it  had  not  been  for  this  appari- 
tional  coming  in  the  wilds  of  southeastern  Europe. 
Behind  her  were  her  people — some  servants  and  an  old 
lady  on  a  very  little  pony.  "  Well,  Rufus?  "  she  said. 

Coleman  made  the  mistake  of  hesitating.  For  a 
fraction  of  a  moment  he  had  acted  as  if  he  were  em 
barrassed,  and  was  only  going  to  nod  and  say  :  "  How 
d'do?" 

He  arose  and  came  forward  too  late.  She  was  look 
ing  at  him  with  a  menacing  glance  which  meant  diffi 
culties  for  him  if  he  was  not  skilful.  Keen  as  an 
eagle,  she  swept  her  glance  over  the  face  and  figure 
of  Marjory.  Without  further  introduction,  the  girls 
seemed  to  understand  that  they  were  enemies. 

Despite  his  feeling  of  awkwardness,  Coleman's  mind 


i6o  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

was  mainly  occupied  by  pure  astonishment.  "  Nora 
Black  ?  "  he  said,  as  if  even  then  he  could  not  believe 
his  senses.  "  How  in  the  world  did  you  get  down 
here?" 

She  was  not  too  amiable,  evidently,  over  his  recep 
tion,  and  she  seemed  to  know  perfectly  that  it  was  in 
her  power  to  make  him  feel  extremely  unpleasant. 
"  Oh,  it's  not  so  far,"  she  answered.  "  I  don't  see 
where  you  come  in  to  ask  me  what  I'm  doing  here. 
What  are  you  doing  here  ?  "  She  lifted  her  eyes  and 
shot  the  half  of  a  glance  at  Marjory.  Into  her  last 
question  she  had  interjected  a  spirit  of  ownership  in 
which  he  saw  future  woe.  It  turned  him  cowardly. 
"  Why,  you  know  I  was  sent  up  here  by  the  paper  to 
rescue  the  Wainwright  party,  and  I've  got  them. 
I'm  taking  them  to  Arta.  But  why  are  you  here?" 

"  I  am  here,"  she  said,  giving  him  the  most  defiant 
of  glances,  "  principally  to  look  for  you/' 

Even  the  horse  she  rode  betrayed  an  intention  of 
abiding  upon  that  spot  forever.  She  had  made  her 
communication  with  Coleman  appear  to  the  Wain 
wright  party  as  a  sort  of  tender  reunion. 

Coleman  looked  at  her  with  a  steely  eye.  "  Nora, 
you  can  certainly  be  a  devil  when  you  choose." 

"  Why  don't  you  present  me  to  your  friends?  Miss 
Nora  Black,  special  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Daylight,  if  you  please.  I  belong  to  your  opposition. 
I  am  your  rival,  Rufus,  and  I  draw  a  bigger  salary 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  161 

—see?  Funny  looking  gang,  that.  Who  is  the  old 
Johnnie  in  the  white  wig?" 

u  £r where  you  goin' — you  can't  "  —blundered 

Coleman  miserably.  "  Aw— the  army  is  in  retreat 
and  you  must  go  back  to— don't  you  see?" 

"Is  it?"  she  asked.  After  a  pause  she  added 
coolly  :  "  Then  I  shall  go  back  to  Arta  with  you  and 
your  precious  Wainwrights." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

GIVING  Coleman  another  glance  of  subtle  menace 
Nora  repeated  :  "  Why  don't  you  present  me  to  your 
friends?"  Coleman  had  been  swiftly  searching  the 
whole  world  for  a  way  clear  of  this  unhappiness,  but 
he  knew  at  last  that  he  could  only  die  at  his  guns. 
44  Why,  certainly,"  he  said  quickly,  "  if  you  wish  it." 
He  sauntered  easily  back  to  the  luncheon  blanket. 
"  This  is  Miss  Black  of  the  New  York  Daylight  and 
she  says  that  those  people  on  the  mountain  are 
Greeks."  The  students  were  gaping  at  him,  and  Mar 
jory  and  her  father  sat  in  the  same  silence.  But  to 
the  relief  of  Coleman  and  to  the  high  edification  of 
the  students,  Mrs.  Wainwright  cried  out :  "  Why,  is 
she  an  American  woman?"  And  seeing  Coleman's 
nod  of  assent  she  rustled  to  her  feet  and  advanced 
hastily  upon  the  complacent  horsewoman.  "  I'm  de 
lighted  to  see  you.  Who  would  think  of  seeing  an 
American  woman  way  over  here.  Have  you  been  here 
long?  Are  you  going  on  further?  Oh,  we've  had 
such  a  dreadful  time."  Coleman  remained  long 
enough  to  hear  Nora  say :  "  Thank  you  very  much, 
but  I  shan't  dismount.  I  am  going  to  ride  back  to 
Arta  presently." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  163 

Then  he  heard  Mrs.  Waimvright  cry  :  "  Oh,  are  you 
indeed  ?  Why  we,  too,  are  going  at  once  to  Arta. 
We  can  all  go  together."  Colcman  fled  then  to  the 
bosom  of  the  students,  who  all  looked  at  him  with 
eyes  of  cynical  penetration.  He  cast  a  glance  at 
Marjory  more  than  fearing  a  glare  which  denoted  an 
implacable  resolution  never  to  forgive  this  thing.  On 
the  contrary  he  had  never  seen  her  so  content  and 
serene.  "  You  have  allowed  your  coffee  to  get 
chilled,"  she  said  considerately.  "  Won't  you  have 
the  man  warm  you  some  more  ?  " 

"  Thanks,  no,"  he  answered  with  gratitude. 

Nora,  changing  her  mind,  had  dismounted  and  was 
coming  with  Mrs.  Wainwright.  That  worthy  lady 
had  long  had  a  fund  of  information  and  anecdote  the 
sound  of  which  neither  her  husband  nor  her  daughter 
would  endure  for  a  moment.  Of  course  the  rascally 
students  were  out  of  the  question.  Here,  then,  was 
really  the  first  ear  amiably  and  cheerfully  open,  and 
she  was  talking  at  what  the  students  called  her 
"  thirty  knot  gait." 

"  Lost  everything.  Absolutely  everything.  Neither 
of  us  have  even  a  brush  and  comb,  or  a  cake  of  soap, 
or  enough  hairpins  to  hold  up  our  hair.  I'm  going  to 
take  Marjory's  away  from  her  and  let  her  braid  her 
hair  down  .her  back.  You  can  imagine  how  dreadful 
it  is " 

From  time  to  time  the  cool  voice  of  Nora  sounded 


164  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

without  effort  through  this  clamour.  "  Oh,  it  will  be 
no  trouble  at  all.  I  have  more  than  enough  of  every 
thing.  We  can  divide  very  nicely." 

Coleman  broke  somewhat  imperiously  into  this 
feminine  chat.  "  Well,  we  must  be  moving,  you 
know,  "  and  his  voice  started  the  men  into  activity. 
When  the  traps  were  all  packed  again  on  the  horse 
Coleman  looked  back  surprised  to  see  the  three 
women  engaged  in  the  most  friendly  discussion.  The 
combined  parties  now  made  a  very  respectable  squad 
ron.  Coleman  rode  off  at  its  head  without  glancing 
behind  at  all.  He  knew  that  they  were  following 
from  the  soft  pounding  of  the  horses  hoofs  on  the  sod 
and  from  the  mellow  hum  of  human  voices. 

For  a  long  time  he  did  not  think  to  look  upon  him 
self  as  anything  but  a  man  much  injured  by  circum 
stances.  Among  his  friends  he  could  count  numbers 
who  had  lived  long  lives  without  having  this  peculiar 
class  of  misfortune  come  to  them.  In  fact  it  was  so 
unusual  a  misfortune  that  men  of  the  world  had  not 
found  it  necessary  to  pass  from  mind  to  mind  a  perfect 
formula  for  dealing  with  it.  But  he  soon  began  to 
consider  himself  an  extraordinarily  lucky  person  inas 
much  as  Nora  Black  had  come  upon  him  with  her 
saddle  bags  packed  with  inflammable  substances,  so 
to  speak,  and  there  had  been  as  yet  only  enough  fire 
to  boil  coffee  for  luncheon.  He  laughed  tenderly 
when  he  thought  of  the  innocence  of  Mrs.  Wainwright, 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  165 

but  his  face  and  back  flushed  with  heat  when  he 
thought  of  the  canniness  of  the  eight  American  col 
lege  students. 

He  heard  a  horse  cantering  up  on  his  left  side  and 
looking  he  saw  Nora  Black.  She  was  beaming  with 
satisfaction  and  good  nature.  "  Well,  Rufus,"  she 
cried  flippantly,  "  how  goes  it  with  the  gallant  rescuer  ? 
You've  made  a  hit,  my  boy.  You  are  the  success  of 
the  season." 

Coleman  reflected  upon  the  probable  result  of  a  di 
rect  appeal  to  Nora.  He  knew  of  course  that  such 
appeals  were  usually  idle,  but  he  did  not  consider 
Nora  an  ordinary  person.  His  decision  was  to  ven 
ture  it.  He  drew  his  horse  close  to  hers.  "  Nora," 
he  said,  "  do  you  know  that  you  are  raising  the  very 
devil  ?  " 

She  lifted  her  finely  penciled  eyebrows  and  looked 
at  him  with  the  baby-stare.  "  How?"  she  enquired. 

"You  know  well  enough,"  he  gritted  out  wrathfully. 

"  Raising  the  very  devil  ?  "  she  asked.  "  How  do 
you  mean  ?  "  She  was  palpably  interested  for  his  an 
swer.  She  waited  for  his  reply  for  an  interval,  and 
then  she  asked  him  outright.  "  Rufus  Coleman  do 
you  mean  that  I  am  not  a  respectable  woman  ?  " 

In  reality  he  had  meant  nothing  of  the  kind,  but 
this  direct  throttling  of  a  great  question  stupificd  him 
utterly,  for  he  saw  now  that  she  would  probably 
never  understand  him  in  the  least  and  that  she  would 


1 66  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

at  any  rate  always  pretend  not  to  understand  him  and 
that  the  more  he  said  the  more  harm  he  manufactured. 
She  studied  him  over  carefully  and  then  wheeled  her 
horse  towards  the  rear  with  some  parting  remarks. 
"  I  suppose  you  should  attend  more  strictly  to  your 
own  affairs,  Rufus.  Instead  of  raising  the  devil  I  am 
lending  hairpins.  I  have  seen  you  insult  people,  but 
I  have  never  seen  you  insult  any  one  quite  for  the 
whim  of  the  thing.  Go  soak  your  head." 

Not  considering  it  advisable  to  then  indulge  in  such 
immersion  Coleman  rode  moodily  onward.  The  hot 
dust  continued  to  sting  the  cheeks  of  the  travellers 
and  in  some  places  great  clouds  of  dead  leaves  roared 
in  circles  about  them.  All  of  the  Wainwright  party 
were  utterly  fagged.  Coleman  felt  his  skin  crackle 
and  his  throat  seemed  to  be  coated  with  the  white 
dust.  He  worried  his  dragoman  as  to  the  distance  to 
Arta  until  the  dragoman  lied  to  the  point  where  he 
always  declared  that  Arta  was  only  off  some  hundreds 
of  yards. 

At  their  places  in  the  procession  Mrs.  Wainwright 
and  Marjory  were  animatedly  talking  to  Nora  and  the 
old  lady  on  the  little  pony.  They  had  at  first  suffered 
great  amazement  at  the  voluntary  presence  of  the  old 
lady,  but  she  was  there  really  because  she  knew  no 
better.  Her  colossal  ignorance  took  the  form,  mainly, 
of  a  most  obstreperous  patriotism,  and  indeed  she  al 
ways  acted  in  a  foreign  country  as  if  she  were  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  167 

special  commissioner  of  the  President,  or  perhaps  as  a 
special  commissioner  could  not  act  at  all.  She  was 
very  aggressive,  and  when  any  of  the  travelling  ar 
rangements  in  Europe  did  not  suit  her  ideas  she  was 
won't  to  shrilly  exclaim  :  "  Well !  New  York  is  good 
enough  for  me."  Nora,  morbidly  afraid  that  her  ex 
pense  bill  to  the  Daylight  would  not  be  large  enough, 
had  dragged  her  bodily  off  to  Greece  as  her  companion, 
friend  and  protection.  At  Arta  they  had  heard  of  the 
grand  success  of  the  Greek  army.  The  Turks  had  not 
stood  for  a  moment  before  that  gallant  and  terrible 
advance  ;  no  ;  they  had  scampered  howling  with  fear 
into  the  north.  Jannina  would  fall — well,  Jannina 
would  fall  as  soon  as  the  Greeks  arrived.  There  was 
no  doubt  of  it.  The  correspondent  and  her  friend, 
deluded  and  hurried  by  the  light-hearted  confidence 
of  the  Greeks  in  Arta,  had  hastened  out  then  on  a 
regular  tourist's  excursion  to  see  Jannina  after  its 
capture.  Nora  concealed  from  her  friend  the  fact 
that  the  editor  of  the  Daylight  particularly  wished 
her  to  see  a  battle  so  that  she  might  write  an  article 
on  actual  warfare  from  a  woman's  point  of  view. 
With  her  name  as  a  queen  of  comic  opera,  such  an 
article  from  her  pen  would  be  a  burning  sensation. 

Coleman  had  been  the  first  to  point  out  to  Nora 
that  instead  of  going  on  a  picnic  to  Jannina,  she  had 
better  run  back  to  Arta.  When  the  old  lady  heard 
that  they  had  not  been  entirely  safe,  she  was  furious 


1 68  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

with  Nora.  "  The  idea ! "  she  exclaimed  to  Mrs. 
Wainwright.  "  They  might  have  caught  us !  They 
might  have  caught  us  !  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "  I  verily  believe 
they  would  have  caught  us  if  it  had  not  been  for  Mr. 
Coleman." 

"  Is  he  the  gentleman  on  the  fine  horse?  " 

"  Yes ;  that's  him.  Oh,  he  has  been  sim-plee 
splendid.  I  confess  I  was  a  little  bit — er — surprised. 
He  was  in  college  under  my  husband.  I  don't  know 
that  we  thought  very  great  things  of  him,  but  if  ever 
a  man  won  golden  opinions  he  has  done  so  from  us." 

"  Oh,  that  must  be  the  Coleman  who  is  such  a  great 
friend  of  Nora's." 

"Yes?"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright  insidiously.  "Is 
he  ?  I  didn't  know.  Of  course  he  knows  so  many 
people."  Her  mind  had  been  suddenly  illumined 
by  the  old  lady  and  she  thought  extravagantly  of  the 
arrival  of  Nora  upon  the  scene.  She  remained  all 
sweetness  to  the  old  lady.  "  Did  you  know  he  was 
here?  Did  you  expect  to  meet  him?  It  seemed  such 
a  delightful  coincidence."  In  truth  she  was  being 
subterraneously  clever. 

"  Oh,  no  ;  I  don't  think  so.  I  didn't  hear  Nora 
mention  it.  Of  course  she  would  have  told  me.  You 
know,  our  coming  to  Greece  was  such  a  surprise. 
Nora  had  an  engagement  in  London  at  the  Folly 
Theatre  in  Fly  by  Night,  but  the  manager  was  insuf- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  [6  , 

ferable,  oh,  insufferable.  So,  of  course,  Nora  wouldn't 
stand  it  a  minute,  and  then  these  newspaper  people 
came  along  and  asked  her  to  go  to  Greece  for  them 
and  she  accepted.  I  am  sure  I  never  expected  to  find 
us — aw — fleeing  from  the  Turks  or  I  shouldn't  have 
come." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  was  gasping.  "  You  don't  mean 
that  she  is — she  is  Nora  Black,  the  actress." 

"  Of  course,  she  is,"  said  the  old  lady  jubilantly. 

"  Why,  how  strange,"  choked  Mrs.  Wainwrignt. 
Nothing  she  knew  of  Nora  could  account  for  her 
stupefaction  and  grief.  What  happened  glaringly  to 
her  was  the  duplicity  of  man.  Coleman  was  a  ribald 
deceiver.  He  must  have  known  and  yet  he  had  pre 
tended  throughout  that  the  meeting  was  a  pure  acci 
dent.  She  turned  with  a  nervous  impulse  to  sympa 
thise  with  her  daughter,  but  despite  the  lovely 
tranquillity  of  the  girl's  face  there  was  something 
about  her  which  forbade  the  mother  to  meddle. 
Anyhow  Mrs.  Wainwright  was  sorry  that  she  had 
told  nice  things  of  Coleman's  behaviour,  so  she  said  to 
the  old  lady  :  "  Young  men  of  these  times  get  a 
false  age  so  quickly.  We  have  always  thought  it  a 
great  pity  about  Mr.  Coleman." 

"  Why,  how  so  ?  "  asked  the  old  lady. 

"  Oh,  really  nothing.  Only,  to  us  he  seemed  rather 
— er — prematurely  experienced  or  something  of  that 
kind." 


i;o  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  old  lady  did  not  catch  the  meaning  of  the 
phrase.  She  seemed  surprised.  "  Why,  I've  never 
seen  any  full-grown  person  in  this  world  who  got 
experience  any  too  quick  for  his  own  good." 

At  the  tail  of  the  procession  there  was  talk  be 
tween  the  two  students  who  had  in  charge  the  little 
grey  horse — one  to  lead  and  one  to  flog.  "  Billie," 
said  one,  "  it  now  becomes  necessary  to  lose  this 
hobby  into  the  hands  of  some  of  the  other  fellows. 
Whereby  we  will  gain  opportunity  to  pay  homage  to 
the  great  Nora.  Why,  you  egregious  thick-head,  this 
is  the  chance  of  a  life-time.  I'm  damned  if  I'm  going 
to  tow  this  beast  of  burden  much  further." 

"  You  wouldn't  stand  a  show,"  said  Billie  pessi 
mistically.  "  Look  at  Coleman." 

"  That's  all  right.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you 
prefer  to  continue  towing  pack  horses  in  the  presence 
of  this  queen  of  song  and  the  dance  just  because  you 
think  Coleman  can  throw  out  his  chest  a  little  more 
than  you.  Not  so.  Think  of  your  bright  and  spark 
ling  youth.  There's  Coke  and  Pete  Tounley  near  Mar 
jory.  We'll  call  'em."  Whereupon  he  set  up  a 
cry.  "  Say,  you  people,  we're  not  getting  a  salary 
for  this.  Supposin'  you  try  for  a  time.  It'll  do  you 
good."  When  the  two  addressed  had  halted  to  await 
the  arrival  of  the  little  grey  horse,  they  took  on  glum 
expressions.  "You  look  like  poisoned  pups,"  said 
the  student  who  led  the  horse.  "Too  strong  for 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  171 

light  work.  Grab  onto  the  halter,  now,  Peter,  and 
tow.  We  are  going  ahead  to  talk  to  Nora  Black." 

"  Good  time  you'll  have,"  answered  Peter  Tounley. 
"  Coleman  is  cuttin'  up  scandalous.  You  won't  stand 
a  show." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  him  ?  "  said  Coke.  "  Seems 
curious,  all  'round.  Do  you  suppose  he  knew  she 
would  show  up  ?  It  was  nervy  to — " 

"  Nervy  to  what  ?  "  asked  Billie. 

"Well,"  said  Coke,  "seems  to  me  he  is  playing  both 
ends  against  the  middle.  I  don't  know  anything 
about  Nora  Black,  but — " 

The  three  other  students  expressed  themselves  with 
conviction  and  in  chorus.  "  Coleman's  all  right." 

"  Well,  anyhow,"  continued  Coke,  "  I  don't  see  my 
way  free  to  admiring  him  introducing  Nora  Black 
to  the  Wainwrights." 

"  He  didn't,"  said  the  others,  still  in  chorus. 

"  Queer  game/'  said  Peter  Tounley.  "  He  seems 
to  know  her  pretty  well." 

"  Pretty  damn  well,"  said  Billie. 

"Anyhow  he's  a  brick,"  said  Peter  Tounley.  "  We 
mustn't  forget  that.  Lo,  I  begin  to  feel  that  our 
Rufus  is  a  fly  guy  of  many  different  kinds.  Any 
play  that  he  is  in  commands  my  respect.  He  won't 
be  hit  by  a  chimney  in  the  daytime,  for  unto  him  has 
come  much  wisdom,  I  don't  think  I'll  worry." 


i;2  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Is  he  stuck  on  Nora  Black,  do  you  know  ? " 
asked  Billie. 

"  One  thing  is  plain,"  replied  Coke.  "  She  has  got 
him  somehow  by  the  short  hair  and  she  intends  him 
to  holler  murder.  Anybody  can  see  that." 

"  Well,  he  won't  holler  murder,"  said  one  of  them 
with  conviction.  "  I'll  bet  you  he  won't.  He'll 
hammer  the  war-post  and  beat  the  tom-tom  until  he 
drops,  but  he  won't  holler  murder." 

"  Old  Mother  Wainwright  will  be  in  his  wool 
presently,"  quoth  Peter  Tounley  musingly.  "I  could 
see  it  coming  in  her  eye.  Somebody  has  given  his 
snap  away,  or  something." 

"  Aw,  he  had  no  snap,"  said  Billie.  "  Couldn't  you 
see  how  rattled  he  was  ?  He  would  have  given  a  lac 
if  dear  Nora  hadn't  turned  up." 

"  Of  course,"  the  others  assented.  "He  was  rat 
tled." 

"  Looks  queer.     And  nasty,"  said  Coke. 

"  Nora  herself  had  an  axe  ready  for  him." 

They  began  to  laugh.  '"  If  she  had  had  an  um 
brella  she  would  have  basted  him  over  the  head  with 
it.  Oh,  my  !  He  was  green." 

"  Nevertheless,"  said  Peter  Tounley,  "  I  refuse  to 
worry  over  our  Rufus.  When  he  can't  take  care  of 
himself  the  rest  of  us  want  to  hunt  cover.  He  is  a 
fly  guy." 

Coleman  in  the  meantime  had  become  aware  that 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  173 

the  light  of  Mrs.  Wainwright's  countenance  was 
turned  from  him.  The  party  stopped  at  a  well,  and 
when  he  offered  lu-r  a  drink  from  his  cup  he  thought 
she  accepted  it  with  scant  thanks.  Marjory  was  still 
gracious,  always  gracious,  but  this  did  not  reassure 
him,  because  he  felt  there  was  much  unfathomable  de 
ception  in  it.  When  he  turned  to  seek  consolation  in 
the  manner  of  the  professor  he  found  him  as  before, 
stunned  with  surprise,  and  the  only  idea  he  had  was  to 
be  as  tractable  as  a  child. 

When  he  returned  to  the  head  of  the  column,  Noni 
again  cantered  forward  to  join  him.  "  Well,  me  gay 
Lochinvar,"  she  cried,  "and  has  your  disposition  im 
proved  ?  " 

"  You  are  very  fresh,"  he  said. 

She  laughed  loud  enough  to  be  heard  the  full  length 
of  the  caravan.  It  was  a  beautiful  laugh,  but  full  of 
insolence  and  confidence.  He  flashed  his  eyes 
malignantly  upon  her,  but  then  she  only  laughed 
more.  She  could  see  that  he  wished  to  strangle  her. 
"  What  a  disposition  !  "  she  said.  "  What  a  dispo 
sition  !  You  are  not  nearly  so  nice  as  your  friends. 
Now,  they  are  charming,  but  you — Rufus,  I  wish 
you  would  get  that  temper  mended.  Dear  Rufus,  do 
it  to  please  me.  You  know  you  like  to  please  me. 
Don't  you  now,  dear?" 

He  finally  laughed.  "  Confound  you,  Nora.  I 
would  like  to  kill  you." 


i;4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

But  at  his  laugh  she  was  all  sunshine.  It  was  as  if 
she  had  been  trying  to  taunt  him  into  good  humour 
with  her.  "  Aw,  now,  Rufus,  don't  be  angry.  I'll  be 
good,  Rufus.  Really,  I  will.  Listen.  I  want  to  tell 
you  something.  Do  you  know  what  I  did  ?  Well, 
you  know,  I  never  was  cut  out  for  this  business,  and, 
back  there,  when  you  told  me  about  the  Turks  being 
near  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  I  was  frightened  almost 
to  death.  Really,  I  was.  So,  when  nobody  was 
looking,  I  sneaked  two  or  three  little  drinks  out  of  my 
flask.  Two  or  three  little  drinks " 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"GOOD  God!"  said  Coleman.  "You  don't 
mean " 

Nora  smiled  rosily  at  him.  "  Oh,  I'm  all  right,"  she 
answered.  "  Don't  worry  about  your  Aunt  Nora,  my 
precious  boy.  Not  for  a  minute." 

Coleman  was  horrified.  "  But  you  are  not  going 
to — you  are  not  going  to 

"  Not  at  all,  me  son.  Not  at  all,"  she  answered. 
"  I'm  not  going  to  prance.  I'm  going  to  be  as  nice  as 
pie,  and  just  ride  quietly  along  here  with  dear  little 
Rufus.  Only  you  know  what  I  can  do  when 

I  get  started,  so  you  had  better  be  a  very  good  boy. 
I  might  take  it  into  my  head  to  say  some  things,  you 
know." 

Bound  hand  and  foot  at  his  stake,  he  could  not  even 
chant  his  defiant  torture  song.  It  might  precipitate- 
in  fact,  he  was  sure  it  would  precipitate  the  grand 
smash.  But  to  the  very  core  of  his  soul,  he  for  the 
time  hated  Nora  Black.  He  did  not  dare  to  remind 
her  that  he  would  revenge  himself ;  he  dared  only  to 
dream  of  this  revenge,  but  it  fairly  made  his  thoughts 
flame,  and  deep  in  his  throat  he  was  swearing  an  inflex 
ible  persecution  of  Nora  Black.  The  old  expression  of 


i/6  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

his  sex  came  to  him,  "  Oh,  if  she  were  only  a  man !  " 
If  she  had  been  a  man,  he  would  have  fallen  upon  her 
tooth  and  nail.  Her  motives  for  all  this  impressed 
him  not  at  all ;  she  was  simply  a  witch  who  bound 
him  helpless  with  the  power  of  her  femininity,  and 
made  him  eat  cinders.  He  was  so  sure  that  his  face 
betrayed  him  that  he  did  not  dare  let  her  see  it. 
"  Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?  "  he  asked, 
over  his  shoulder. 

"  O-o-oh,"  she  drawled,  impudently.  "  Nothing." 
He  could  see  that  she  was  determined  not  to  be  con 
fessed.  "  I  may  do  this  or  I  may  do  that.  It  all  de 
pends  upon  your  behaviour,  my  dear  Rufus." 

As  they  rode  on,  he  deliberated  as  to  the  best 
means  of  dealing  with  this  condition.  Suddenly  he 
resolved  to  go  with  the  whole  tale  direct  to  Marjory, 
and  to  this  end  he  half  wheeled  his  horse.  He  would 
reiterate  that  he  loved  her  and  then  explain — explain  ! 
He  groaned  when  he  came  to  the  word,  and  ceased 
formulation. 

The  cavalcade  reached  at  last  the  bank  of  the  Arac- 
thus  river,  with  its  lemon  groves  and  lush  grass.  A 
battery  wheeled  before  them  over  the  ancient  bridge 
—a  flight  of  short,  broad  cobbled  steps  up  as  far  as 
the  centre  of  the  stream  and  a  similar  flight  down  to 
the  other  bank.  The  returning  aplomb  of  the  travel 
lers  was  well  illustrated  by  the  professor,  who,  upon 
sighting  this  bridge,  murmured :  "  Byzantine." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  177 

This  was  the  first  indication  that  he  had  still  within 
him  a  power  to  resume  the  normal. 

The  steep  and  narrow  street  was  crowded  with  sol 
diers  ;  the  smoky  little  coffee  shops  were  a-babble  with 
people  discussing  the  news  from  the  front.  None 
seemed  to  heed  the  remarkable  procession  that  wended 
its  way  to  the  cable  office.  Here  Coleman  resolutely 
took  precedence.  He  knew  that  there  was  no  good  in 
expecting  intelligence  out  of  the  chaotic  clerks,  but 
he  managed  to  get  upon  the  wires  this  message : 
"Eclipse,  New  York:  Got  Wainwright  party;  all 
well.  Coleman."  The  students  had  struggled  to  send 
messages  to  their  people  in  America,  but  they  had 
only  succeeded  in  deepening  the  tragic  boredom  of 
the  clerks. 

When  Coleman  returned  to  the  street  he  thought 
that  he  had  seldom  looked  upon  a  more  moving  spec 
tacle  than  the  Wainwright  party  presented  at  that  mo 
ment.  Most  of  the  students  were  seated  in  a  row, 
dejectedly,  upon  the  kerb.  The  professor  and  Mrs. 
Wainwright  looked  like  two  old  pictures,  which,  after 
an  existence  in  a  considerate  gloom,  had  been  brought 
out  in  their  tawdriness  to  the  clear  light.  Hot  white 
dust  covered  everybody,  and  from  out  the  grimy  faces 
the  eyes  blinked,  red-fringed  with  sleeplessness.  De 
solation  sat  upon  all,  save  Marjory.  She  possessed 
some  marvellous  power  of  looking  always  fresh.  This 
quality  had  indeed  impressed  the  old  lady  on  the  little 


i/8  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

pony  until  she  had  said  to  Nora  Black :  "  That  girl 
would  look  well  anywhere."  Nora  Black  had  not  been 
amiable  in  her  reply. 

Coleman  called  the  professor  and  the  dragoman  for 
a  durbar.  The  dragoman  said  :  "Well,  I  can  get  one 
carnage,  and  we  can  go  immediate-lee." 

"  Carriage  be  blowed  !  "  said  Coleman.  "  What 
these  people  need  is  rest,  sleep.  You  must  find  a 
place  at  once.  These  people  can't  remain  in  the 
street."  He  spoke  in  anger,  as  if  he  had  previously 
told  the  dragoman  and  the  latter  had  been  inattentive. 
The  man  immediately  departed. 

Coleman  remarked  that  there  was  no  course  but  to 
remain  in  the  street  until  his  dragoman  had  found 
them  a  habitation.  It  was  a  mournful  waiting.  The 
students  sat  on  the  kerb.  Once  they  whispered  to 
Coleman,  suggesting  a  drink,  but  he  told  them  that 
he  knew  only  one  cafe,  the  entrance  of  which  would 
be  in  plain  sight  of  the  rest  of  the  party.  The  ladies 
talked  together  in  a  group  of  four.  Nora  Black  was 
bursting  with  the  fact  that  her  servant  had  hired  rooms 
in  Arta  on  their  outcoming  journey,  and  she  wished 
Mrs.  Wainwright  and  Marjory  to  come  to  them,  at 
least  for  a  time,  but  she  dared  not  risk  a  refusal,  and 
she  felt  something  in  Mrs.  Wainwright's  manner 
which  led  her  to  be  certain  that  such  would  be  the  an 
swer  to  her  invitation.  Coleman  and  the  professor 
strolled  slowly  up  and  down  the  walk. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  179 

"  Well,  my  work  is  over,  sir,"  said  Coleman.  "  My 
paper  told  me  to  find  you,  and,  through  no  virtue  of 
my  own,  I  found  you.  I  am  very  glad  of  it.  I  don't 
know  of  anything  in  my  life  that  has  given  me  greater 
pleasure." 

The  professor  was  himself  again  in  so  far  as  he  had 
lost  all  manner  of  dependence.  But  still  he  could  not 
yet  be  bumptious.  "  Mr.  Coleman,"  he  said,  "  I  am 
placed  under  life-long  obligation  to  you.  I 

am  not  thinking  of  myself  so  much.  My  wife 

and  daughter His  gratitude  was  so  genuine 

that  he  could  not  finish  its  expression. 

"  Oh,  don't  speak  of  it,"  said  Coleman.  "  I  really 
didn't  do  anything  at  all." 

The  dragoman  finally  returned  and  led  them  all  to 
a  house  which  he  had  rented  for  gold.  In  the  great, 
bare,  upper  chamber  the  students  dropped  wearily  to 
the  floor,  while  the  woman  of  the  house  took  the 
Wainwrights  to  a  more  secluded  apartment.  As  the 
door  closed  on  them,  Coleman  turned  like  a  flash. 
"  Have  a  drink,"  he  said.  The  students  arose  around 
him  like  the  wave  of  a  flood.  "  You  bet."  In  the 
absence  of  changes  of  clothing,  ordinary  food,  the 
possibility  of  a  bath,  and  in  the  presence  of  great 
weariness  and  dust,  Coleman's  whisky  seemed  to 
them  a  glistening  luxury.  Afterward  they  laid  down 
as  if  to  sleep,  but  in  reality  they  were  too  dirty  and 


i8o  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

too  fagged  to  sleep.  They  simply  lay  murmuring. 
Peter  Tounley  even  developed  a  small  fever. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Coleman  suddenly  discov 
ered  his  acute  interest  in  the  progressive  troubles  of 
his  affair  of  the  heart  had  placed  the  business  of  his 
newspaper  in  the  rear  of  his  mind.  The  greater  part 
of  the  next  hour  he  spent  in  getting  off  to  New  York 
that  dispatch  which  created  so  much  excitement  for 
him  later,,  Afterward  he  was  free  to  reflect  moodily 
upon  the  ability  of  Nora  Black  to  distress  him.  She, 
with  her  retinue,  had  disappeared  toward  her  own 
rooms.  At  dusk  he  went  into  the  street,  and  was  edi 
fied  to  see  Nora's  dragoman  dodging  along  in  his 
wake.  He  thought  that  this  was  simply  another  man 
ifestation  of  Nora's  interest  in  his  movements,  and  so 
he  turned  a  corner,  and  there  pausing,  waited  until 
the  dragoman  spun  around  directly  into  his  arms. 
But  it  seemed  that  the  man  had  a  note  to  deliver,  and 
this  was  only  his  Oriental  way  of  doing  it. 

The  note  read  :  "  Come  and  dine  with  me  to-night." 
It  was  not  a  request.  It  was  peremptory.  "All 
right,"  he  said,  scowling  at  the  man. 

He  did  not  go  at  once,  for  he  wished  to  reflect  for  a 
time  and  find  if  he  could  not  evolve  some  weapons  of 
his  own.  It  seemed  to  him  that  all  the  others  were 
liberally  supplied  with  weapons. 

A  clear,  cold  night  had  come  upon  the  earth  when 
he  signified  to  the  lurking  dragoman  that  he  was  in 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  181 

readiness  to  depart  with  him  to  Nora's  abode.  They 
passed  finally  into  a  dark  court-yard,  up  a  winding 
staircase,  across  an  embowered  balcony,  and  Coleman 
entered  alone  a  room  where  there  were  lights. 

His  feet  were  scarcely  over  the  threshold  before  he 
had  concluded  that  the  tigress  was  now  going  to  try 
some  velvet  purring.  He  noted  that  the  arts  of  the 
stage  had  not  been  thought  too  cheaply  obvious  for 
use.  Nora  sat  facing  the  door.  A  bit  of  yellow  silk 
had  been  twisted  about  the  crude  shape  of  the  lamp, 
and  it  made  the  play  of  light,  amber-like,  shadowy  and 
yet  perfectly  clear,  the  light  which  women  love.  She 
was  arrayed  in  a  puzzling  gown  of  that  kind  of  Gre 
cian  silk  which  is  so  docile  that  one  can  pull  yards  of 
it  through  a  ring.  It  was  of  the  colour  of  new  straw. 
Her  chin  was  leaned  pensively  upon  her  palm  and  the 
light  fell  on  a  pearly  rounded  forearm.  She  was 
looking  at  him  with  a  pair  of  famous  eyes,  azure,  per 
haps — certainly  purple  at  times — and  it  may  be,  black 
at  odd  moments — a  pair  of  eyes  that  had  made  many 
an  honest  man's  heart  jump  if  he  thought  they  were 
looking  at  him.  It  was  a  vision,  yes,  but  Coleman's 
cynical  knowledge  of  drama  overpowered  his  sense  of 
its  beauty.  He  broke  out  brutally,  in  the  phrases  of 
the  American  street.  "Your  dragoman  is  a  rubber 
neck.  If  he  keeps  darking  me  I  will  simply  have  to 
kick  the  stuffing  out  of  him." 

She  was  alone  in  the  room.     Her  old  lady  had  been 


1 82  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

instructed  to  have  a  headache  and  send  apologies. 
She  was  not  disturbed  by  Coleman's  words.  "  Sit 
down,  Rufus,  and  have  a  cigarette,  and  don't  be  cross, 
because  I  won't  stand  it." 

He  obeyed  her  glumly.  She  had  placed  his  chair 
where  not  a  charm  of  her  could  be  lost  upon  an  obser 
vant  man.  Evidently  she  did  not  purpose  to  allow 
him  to  irritate  her  away  from  her  original  plan.  Pur 
ring  was  now  her  method,  and  none  of  his  insolence 
could  achieve  a  growl  from  the  tigress.  She  arose, 
saying  softly  :  "You  look  tired,  almost  ill,  poor  boy. 
I  will  give  you  some  brandy.  I  have  almost  every 
thing  that  I  could  think  to  make  those  Daylight 
people  buy."  With  a  sweep  of  her  hand  she  indicated 
the  astonishing  opulence  of  the  possessions  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  room. 

As  she  stood  over  him  with  the  brandy  there  came 
through  the  smoke  of  his  cigarette  the  perfume  of 
orris-root  and  violet. 

A  servant  began  to  arrange  the  little  cold  dinner  on 
a  camp  table,  and  Coleman  saw  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  he  could  not  fully  master,  four  quart  bottles  of 
a  notable  brand  of  champagne  placed  in  a  rank  on  the 
floor. 

At  dinner  Nora  was  sisterly.  She  watched  him, 
waited  upon  him,  treated  him  to  an  affectionate  inti 
macy  for  which  he  knew  a  thousand  men  who  would 
have  hated  him.  The  champagne  was  cold. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  183 

Slowly  he  melted.  By  the  time  that  the  boy  came 
with  little  cups  of  Turkish  coffee  he  was  at  least 
amiable.  Nora  talked  dreamily.  "  The  dragoman 
says  this  room  used  to  be  part  of  the  harem  long  ago." 
She  shot  him  a  watchful  glance,  as  if  she  had  expected 
the  fact  to  affect  him.  "Seems  curious,  doesn't  it? 
A  harem.  Fancy  that."  He  smoked  one  cigar  and 
then  discarded  tobacco,  for  the  perfume  of  orris-root 
and  violet  was  making  him  meditate.  Nora  talked  on 
in  a  low  voice.  She  knew  that,  through  half-closed  lids, 
he  was  looking  at  her  in  steady  speculation.  She 
knew  that  she  was  conquering,  but  no  movement  of 
hers  betrayed  an  elation.  With  the  most  exquisite 
art  she  aided  his  contemplation,  baring  to  him,  for  in 
stance,  the  glories  of  a  statuesque  neck,  doing  it  all 
with  the  manner  of  a  splendid  and  fabulous  virgin  who 
knew  not  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  shame.  Her 
stockings  were  of  black  silk. 

Coleman  presently  answered  her  only  in  mono 
syllable,  making  small  distinction  between  yes  and 
no.  He  simply  sat  watching  her  with  eyes  in  which 
there  were  two  little  covetous  steel-coloured  flames. 

He  was  thinking,  "To  go  to  the  devil — to  go  to 
the  devil — to  go  to  the  devil  with  this  girl  is  not  a 
bad  fate — not  a  bad  fate — not  a  bad  fate." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  COME  out  on  the  balcony,"  cooed  Nora.  "  There 
are  some  funny  old  storks  on  top  of  some  chimneys 
near  here  and  they  clatter  like  mad  all  day  and 
night." 

They  moved  together  out  to  the  balcony,  but  Nora 
retreated  with  a  little  cry  when  she  felt  the  coldness 
of  the  night.  She  said  that  she  would  get  a  cloak. 
Coleman  was  not  unlike  a  man  in  a  dream.  He 
walked  to  the  rail  of  the  balcony  where  a  great  vine 
climbed  toward  the  roof.  He  noted  that  it  was  dotted 
with  blossoms,  which  in  the  deep  purple  of  the 
Oriental  night  were  coloured  in  strange  shades  of 
maroon.  This  truth  penetrated  his  abstraction  until 
when  Nora  came  she  found  him  staring  at  them  as  if 
their  colour  was  a  revelation  which  affected  him 
vitally.  She  moved  to  his  side  without  sound  and  he 
first  knew  of  her  presence  from  the  damning  fragrance. 
She  spoke  just  above  her  breath.  "  It's  a  beautiful 
evening." 

"  Yes,"  he  answered.  She  was  at  his  shoulder.  If 
he  moved  two  inches  he  must  come  in  contact. 
They  remained  in  silence  leaning  upon  the  rail. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  185 

Finally  he  began  to  mutter  some  commonplaces 
which  meant  nothing  particularly,  but  into  his  tone  as 
he  mouthed  them  was  the  note  of  a  forlorn  and  pas 
sionate  lover.  Then  as  if  by  accident  he  traversed 
the  two  inches  a*nd  his  shoulder  was  against  the  soft 
and  yet  firm  shoulder  of  Nora  Black.  There  was 
something  in  his  throat  at  this  time  which  changed 
his  voice  into  a  mere  choking  noise.  She  did  not 
move.  He  could  see  her  eyes  glowing  innocently 
out  of  the  pallour  which  the  darkness  gave  to  her  face. 
If  he  was  touching  her,  she  did  not  seem  to  know  it. 

"  I  am  awfully  tired,"  said  Coleman,  thickly.  "  I 
think  I  will  go  home  and  turn  in." 

"  You  must  be,  poor  boy,"  said  Nora  tenderly. 
"  Wouldn't  you  like  a  little  more  of  that  cham 
pagne  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  don't  mind  another  glass." 

She  left  him  again  and  his  galloping  thought 
pounded  to  the  old  refrain.  "  To  go  to  the  devil — to 
go  to  the  devil — to  go  to  the  devil  with  this  girl  is 
not  a  bad  fate — not  a  bad  fate — not  a  bad  fate." 
When  she  returned  he  drank  his  glass  of  champagne. 
Then  he  mumbled :  "  You  must  be  cold.  Let  me 
put  your  cape  around  you  better.  It  won't  do  to 
catch  cold  here,  you  know." 

She  made  a  sweet  pretence  of  rendering  herself  to 
his  care.  "Oh,  thanks  *  '  *  I  am  not  really  cold 
*  *  *  There  that's  better." 


1 86  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Of  course  all  his  manipulation  of  the  cloak  had 
been  a  fervid  caress,  and  although  her  acting  up  to 
this  point  had  remained  in  the  role  of  the  splendid 
and  fabulous  virgin  she  now  turned  her  liquid  eyes  to 
his  with  a  look  that  expressed  knowledge,  triumph  and 
delight.  She  was  sure  of  her  victory.  And  she 
said :  "  Sweetheart  *  *  *  don't  you  think  I  am  as 
nice  as  Marjory?"  The  impulse  had  been  airily  con 
fident. 

It  was  as  if  the  silken  cords  had  been  parted  by  the 
sweep  of  a  sword.  Coleman's  face  had  instantly  stif 
fened  and  he  looked  like  a  man  suddenly  recalled  to 
the  ways  of  light.  It  may  easily  have  been  that  in  a 
moment  he  would  have  lapsed  again  to  his  luxurious 
dreaming.  But  in  his  face  the  girl  had  read  a  fatal 
character  to  her  blunder  and  her  resentment  against 
him  took  precedence  of  any  other  emotion.  She 
wheeled  abruptly  from  him  and  said  with  great  con 
tempt :  "Rufus,  you  had  better  go  home.  You're 
tired  and  sleepy,  and  more  or  less  drunk." 

He  knew  that  the  grand  tumble  of  all  their  little 
embowered  incident  could  be  neither  stayed  or 
mended.  "Yes,"  he  answered,  sulkily,  "I  think  so 
too."  They  shook  hands  huffily  and  he  went  away. 

When  he  arrived  among  the  students  he  found  that 
they  had  appropriated  everything  of  his  which  would 
conduce  to  their  comfort.  He  was  furious  over  it. 
But  to  his  bitter  speeches  they  replied  in  jibes. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  187 

"  Rufus  is  himself  again.  Admire  his  angelic  dis 
position.  See  him  smile.  Gentle  soul." 

A  sleepy  voice  said  from  a  corner :  "  I  know  what 
pinches  him." 

"  What  ?  "  asked  several. 

"  He's  been  to  see  Nora  and  she  flung  him  out 
bodily." 

"  Yes  ?  "  sneered  Coleman.  "  At  times  I  seem  to 
see  in  you,  Coke,  the  fermentation  of  some  primeval 
form  of  sensation,  as  if  it  were  possible  for  you  to  de 
velop  a  mind  in  two  or  three  thousand  years,  and  then 
at  other  times  you  appear  *  *  *  much  as  you  are 
now." 

As  soon  as  they  had  well  measured  Coleman's 
temper  all  of  the  students  save  Coke  kept  their 
mouths  tightly  closed.  Coke  either  did  not  under 
stand  or  his  mood  was  too  vindictive  for  silence. 
"  Well,  I  know  you  got  a  throw-down  all  right,"  he 
muttered. 

"  And  how  would  you  know  when  I  got  a  throw- 
down  ?  You  pimply,  milk-fed  sophomore." 

The  others  perked  up  their  ears  in  mirthful  appre 
ciation  of  this  language. 

"  Of  course,"  continued  Coleman,  "  no  one  would 
protest  against  your  continued  existence,  Coke,  unless 
you  insist  on  recalling  yourself  violently  to  people's 
attention  in  this  way.  The  mere  fact  of  your  living 
would  not  usually  be  offensive  to  people  if  you  weren't 


188  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

eternally  turning  a  sort  of  calcium  light  on  your  pre 
hensile  attributes." 

Coke  was  suddenly  angry,  angry  much  like  a  peas 
ant,  and  his  anger  first  evinced  itself  in  a  mere  sput 
tering  and  spluttering.  Finally  he  got  out  a  rather 
long  speech,  full  of  grumbling  noises,  but  he  was  un 
derstood  by  all  to  declare  that  his  prehensile  attri 
butes  had  not  led  him  to  cart  a  notorious  woman 
about  the  world  with  him.  When  they  quickly  looked 
at  Coleman  they  saw  that  he  was  livid.  "  You — 

But,  of  course,  there  immediately  arose  all  sorts  of 
protesting  cries  from  the  seven  non-combatants. 
Coleman,  as  he  took  two  strides  toward  Coke's  corner, 
looked  fully  able  to  break  him  across  his  knee,  but  for 
this  Coke  did  not  seem  to  care  at  all.  He  was  on 
his  feet  with  a  challenge  in  his  eye.  Upon  each  cheek 
burned  a  sudden  hectic  spot.  The  others  were  clam 
ouring,  "Oh,  say,  this  won't  do.  Quit  it.  Oh,  we 
mustn't  have  a  fight.  He  didn't  mean  it,  Coleman." 
Peter  Tounley  pressed  Coke  to  the  wall  saying  :  "  You 
damned  young  jackass,  be  quiet." 

They  were  in  the  midst  of  these  festivities  when  a 
door  opened  and  disclosed  the  professor.  He  might 
have  been  coming  into  the  middle  of  a  row  in  one  of 
the  corridors  of  the  college  at  home  only  this  time  he 
carried  a  candle.  His  speech,  however,  was  a  Wash- 
urst  speech  :  "  Gentlemen,  gentlemen,  what  does  this 
mean  ?  "  All  seemed  to  expect  Coleman  to  make  the 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  189 

answer.  He  was  suddenly  very  cool.  "  Nothing, 
professor,"  he  said,  "  only  that  this — only  that  Coke 
has  insulted  me.  I  suppose  that  it  was  only  the  irre 
sponsibility  of  a  boy,  and  I  beg  that  you  will  not 
trouble  over  it." 

"  Mr.  Coke,"  said  the  professor,  indignantly,  "  what 
have  you  to  say  to  this?"  Evidently  he  could  not 
clearly  see  Coke,  and  he  peered  around  his  candle  at 
where  the  virtuous  Peter  Tounley  was  expostulating 
with  the  young  man.  The  figures  of  all  the  excited 
group  moving  in  the  candle  light  caused  vast  and  un 
couth  shadows  to  have  conflicts  in  the  end  of  the 
room. 

Peter  Tounley 's  task  was  not  light,  and  beyond 
that  he  had  the  conviction  that  his  struggle  with  Coke 
was  making  him  also  to  appear  as  a  rowdy.  This  con 
viction  was  proven  to  be  true  by  a  sudden  thunder 
from  the  old  professor,  "  Mr.  Tounley,  desist  !  " 

In  wrath  he  desisted  and  Coke  flung  himself  for 
ward.  He  paid  less  attention  to  the  professor  than 
if  the  latter  had  been  a  jack-rabbit.  "  You  say  I  in 
sulted  you?"  he  shouted  crazily  in  Coleman's  face. 
"  Well  *  *  *  I  meant  to,  do  you  sec  ?  " 

Coleman  was  glacial  and  lofty  beyond  everything. 
"  I  am  glad  to  have  you  admit  the  truth  of  what  I 
have  said." 

Coke  was  still  suffocating  with  his  peasant  rage, 
which  would  not  allow  him  to  meet  the  clear,  calm  ex- 


190  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

pressions  of  Coleman.     "  Yes  *  *  *  I    insulted    you 

*  *  *  I  insulted  you  because  what  I  said  was  correct 

*  *  my  prehensile  attributes  *  *  yes  *  *  but  I  have 
never " 

He  was  interrupted  by  a  chorus  from  the  other 
students.  "  Oh,  no,  that  won't  do.  Don't  say  that. 
Don't  repeat  that,  Coke." 

Coleman  remembered  the  weak  bewilderment  of 
the  little  professor  in  hours  that  had  not  long  passed, 
and  it  was  with  something  of  an  impersonal  satisfac 
tion  that  he  said  to  himself :  "  The  old  boy's  got  his 
war-paint  on  again."  The  professor  had  stepped 
sharply  up  to  Coke  and  looked  at  him  with  eyes  that 
seemed  to  throw  out  flame  and  heat.  There  was  a 
moment's  pause,  and  then  the  old  scholar  spoke,  bit 
ing  his  words  as  if  they  were  each  a  short  section  of 
steel  wire.  "  Mr.  Coke,  your  behaviour  will  end  your 
college  career  abruptly  and  in  gloom,  I  promise  you. 
You  have  been  drinking." 

Coke,  his  head  simply  floating  in  a  sea  of  universal 
defiance,  at  once  blurted  out :  "  Yes,  sir." 

"You  have  been  drinking?"  cried  the  professor, 
ferociously.  "  Retire  to  your — retire  to  your — 
retire — "  And  then  in  a  voice  of  thunder  he  shouted  : 
"  Retire." 

Whereupon  seven  hoodlum  students  waited  a  decent 
moment,  then  shrieked  with  laughter.  But  the  old 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  191 

professor  would  have  none  of  their  nonsense.  He 
quelled  them  all  with  force  and  finish. 

Coleman  now  spoke  a  few  words.  "  Professor,  I 
can't  tell  you  how  sorry  I  am  that  I  should  be  con 
cerned  in  any  such  riot  as  this,  and  since  we  are 
doomed  to  be  bound  so  closely  into  each  other's  so 
ciety  I  offer  myself  without  reservation  as  being  will 
ing  to  repair  the  damage  as  well  as  may  be  done.  I 
don  t  see  how  I  can  forget  at  once  that  Coke's  conduct 
was  insolently  unwarranted,  but  *  *  *  if  he  has  any 
thing  to  say  *  *  *  of  a  nature  that  might  heal  the 
breach  *  *  *  I  would  be  willing  to  *  *  *  to  meet 
him  in  the  openest  manner."  As  he  made  these  re 
marks  Coleman's  dignity  was  something  grand,  and, 
morever,  there  was  now  upon  his  face  that  curious 
look  of  temperance  and  purity  which  had  been  noted 
in  New  York  as  a  singular  physical  characteristic.  If 
he  was  guilty  of  anything  in  this  affair  at  all — in  fact, 
if  he  had  ever  at  any  time  been  guilty  of  anything — 
no  mark  had  come  to  stain  that  bloom  of  innocence. 
The  professor  nodded  in  the  fullest  appreciation  and 
sympathy.  "  Of  course  *  *  really  there  is  no  other 

sleeping  place  *  *  *  I  suppose  it  would  be  better " 

Then  he  again  attacked  Coke.  "Young  man,  you 
have  chosen  an  unfortunate  moment  to  fill  us  with  a 
suspicion  that  you  may  not  be  a  gentleman.  For  the 
time  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  with  you."  He  ad 
dressed  the  other  students.  "  There  is  nothing  for 


192  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

me  to  do,  young  gentlemen,  but  to  leave  Mr.  Coke  in 
your  care.  Good-night,  sirs.  Good-night,  Coleman." 
He  left  the  room  with  his  candle. 

When  Coke  was  bade  to  "  Retire  "  he  had,  of  course, 
simply  retreated  fuming  to  a  corner  of  the  room 
where  he  remained  looking  with  yellow  eyes  like  an 
animal  from  a  cave.  When  the  others  were  able  to 
see  through  the  haze  of  mental  confusion  they  found 
that  Coleman  was  with  deliberation  taking  off  his 
boots.  Afterward,  when  he  removed  his  waist-coat, 
he  took  great  care  to  wind  his  large  gold  watch. 

The  students,  much  subdued,  lay  again  in  their 
places,  and  when  there  was  any  talking  it  was  of  an 
extremely  local  nature,  referring  principally  to  the 
floor  as  being  unsuitable  for  beds  and  also  referring 
from  time  to  time  to  a  real  or  an  alleged  selfishness 
on  the  part  of  some  one  of  the  recumbent  men.  Soon 
there  was  only  the  sound  of  heavy  breathing. 

When  the  professor  had  returned  to  what  he  called 
the  Wainwright  part  of  the  house  he  was  greeted  in 
stantly  with  the  question  :  "  What  was  it  ?  "  His  wife 
and  daughter  were  up  in  alarm.  "  What  was  it  ?  " 
they  repeated,  wildly0 

He  was  peevish.  "  Oh,  nothing,  nothing.  But  that 
young  Coke  is  a  regular  ruffian.  He  had  gotten  him 
self  into  some  tremendous  uproar  with  Coleman. 
When  I  arrived  he  seemed  actually  trying  to  assault 
him.  Revolting  !  He  had  been  drinking.  Coleman's 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  193 

behaviour,  I  must  say,  was  splendid.  Recognised  at 
once  the  delicacy  of  my  position — he  not  being  a  stu 
dent.  If  I  had  found  him  in  the  wrong  it  would  have 
been  simpler  than  finding  him  in  the  right.  Confound 
that  rascal  of  a  Coke."  Then,  as  he  began  a  partial 
disrobing,  he  treated  them  to  grunted  scraps  of  in 
formation.  "  Coke  was  quite  insane  *  *  I  feared 
that  I  couldn't  control  him  *  *  Coleman  was  like 
ice  *  *  *  and  as  much  as  I  have  seen  to  admire  in 
him  during  the  last 'few  days,  this  quiet  beat  it  all.  If 
he  had  not  recognised  my  helplessness  as  far  as  he  was 
concerned  the  whole  thing  might  have  been  a  most 
miserable  business.  He  is  a  very  fine  young  man." 
The  dissenting  voice  to  this  last  tribute  was  the  voice 
of  Mrs.  Wainwright.  She  said  :  "  Well,  Coleman 
drinks,  too — everybody  knows  that." 

"  I  know,"  responded  the  professor,  rather  bashfully, 
"  but  I  am  confident  that  he  had  not  touched  a  drop." 

Marjory  said  nothing. 

The  earlier  artillery  battles  had  frightened  most  of 
the  furniture  out  of  the  houses  of  Arta,  and  there  was 
left  in  this  room  only  a  few  old  red  cushions,  and  the 
Wainwrights  were  camping  upon  the  floor.  Marjory 
was  enwrapped  in  Coleman *S  macintosh,  and  while  the 
professor  and  his  wife  maintained  some  low  talk  of  the 
recent  incident  she  in  silence  had  turned  her  cheek 
into  the  yellow  velvet  collar  of  the  coat.  She  felt 
something  against  her  bosom,  and  putting  her  hand 


I94  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

carefully  into  the  top  pocket  of  the  coat  she  found 
three  cigars.  These  she  took  in  the  darkness  and 
laid  aside,  telling  herself  to  remember  their  position 
in  the  morning.  She  had  no  doubt  that  Coleman 
would  rejoice  over  them,  before  he  could  get  back  to 
Athens  where  there  were  other  good  cigars. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  ladies  of  the  Wainwright  party  had  not  com 
plained  at  all  when  deprived  of  even  such  civilised 
advantages  as  a  shelter  and  a  knife  and  fork  and  soap 
and  water,  but  Mrs.  Wainwright  complained  bitterly 
amid  the  half-civilisation  of  Arta.  She  could  see  here 
no  excuse  for  the  absence  of  several  hundred  things 
which  she  had  always  regarded  as  essential  to  life. 
She  began  at  8.30  A.  M.  to  make  both  the  professor 
and  Marjory  woeful  with  an  endless  dissertation  upon 
the  beds  in  the  hotel  at  Athens.  Of  course  she  had 
not  regarded  them  at  the  time  as  being  exceptional 
beds  *  *  *  that  was  quite  true,  *  *  *  but  then  one 
really  never  knew  what  one  was  really  missing  until 
one  really  missed  it  *  "*  *  She  would  never  have 
thought  that  she  would  come  to  consider  those  Athe 
nian  beds  as  excellent  *  *  *  but  experience  is  a  great 
teacher  *  *  *  makes  one  reflect  upon  the  people  who 
year  in  and  year  out  have  no  beds  at  all,  poor  things. 

*  *  *     Well,  it  made  one  glad  if  one  did  have  a  good 
bed,  even  if  it  was  at  the  time  on   the   other  side  of 
the  world.  *  *  *     If  she  ever  reached  it  she  did  not 
know  what  could  ever  induce  her  to  leave  it  again. 

*  *  *     She  would  never  be  induced 


196  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  '  Induced  !  '  '  snarled  the  professor.  The  word 
represented  to  him  a  practiced  feminine  misusage  of 
truth,  and  at  such  his  white  warlock  always  arose. 
"*  Induced!'  Out  of  four  American  women  I  have 
seen  lately,  you  seem  to  be  the  only  one  who  would 
say  that  you  had  endured  this  thing  because  you  had 
been  '  induced '  by  others  to  come  over  here.  How 
absurd !  " 

Mrs.  Wainwright  fixed  her  husband  with  a  steely 
eye.  She  saw  opportunity  for  a  shattering  retort. 
"  You  don't  mean,  Harrison,  to  include  Marjory  and  I 
in  the  same  breath  with  those  two  women  ?  " 

The  professor  saw  no  danger  ahead  for  himself. 
He  merely  answered :  "  I  had  no  thought  either  way. 
It  did  not  seem  important." 

"  Well,  it  is  important,"  snapped  Mrs.  Wainwright. 
"  Do  you  know  that  you  are  speaking  in  the  same 
breath  of  Marjory  and  Nora  Black,  the  actress?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  professor.  "  Is  that  so  ?"  He  was 
astonished,  but  he  was  not  aghast  at  all.  "  Do  you 
mean  to  say  that  is  Nora  Black,  the  comic  opera 
star  ?  " 

"  That's  exactly  who  she  is,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright, 
dramatically.  "  And  I  consider  that — I  consider  that 
Rufus  Coleman  has  done  no  less  than — misled  us." 

This  last  declaration  seemed  to  have  no  effect  upon 
the  professor's  pure  astonishment,  but  Marjory  looked 
at  her  mother  suddenly.  However,  she  said  no  word, 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  197 

exhibiting  again  that  strange  and  inscrutable  counte 
nance  which  masked  even  the  tiniest  of  her  maidenly 
emotions. 

Mrs.  Wainvvright  was  triumphant,  and  she  immedi 
ately  set  about  celebrating  her  victory.  "  Men  never 
see  those  things,"  she  said  to  her  husband.  "  Men 
never  see  those  things.  You  would  have  gone  on 
forever  without  finding  out  that  your — your — hospital 
ity  was  being  abused  by  that  Rufus  Coleman." 

The  professor  woke  up.  "Hospitality?"  he  said, 
indignantly.  "Hospitality?  I  have  not  had  any 
hospitality  to  be  abused.  Why  don't  yon  talk  sense? 
It  is  not  that,  but — it  might—  He  hesitated  and 

then  spoke  slowly.  "  It  might  be  very  awkward.  Of 
course  one  never  knows  anything  definite  about  such 
people,  but  I  suppose  *  :  *  Anyhow,  it  was  strange 
in  Coleman  to  allow  her  to  meet  us." 

"  It  was  all  a  pre-arranged  plan,"  announced  the  tri 
umphant  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "  She  came  here  on  pur 
pose  to  meet  Rufus  Coleman,  and  he  knew  it,  and  I 
should  not  wonder  if  they  had  not  the  exact  spot 
picked  out  where  they  were  going  to  meet." 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  that,"  said  the  professor,  in 
distress.  "  I  can  hardly  believe  that.  It  does  not 
seem  to  me  that  Coleman— 

"  Oh,  yes.  Your  dear  Rufus  Coleman,"  cried  Mrs. 
Wainwright.  "  You  think  he  is  very  fine  now.  But 
I  can  remember  when  you  didn't  think — 


198  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

And  the  parents  turned  together  an  abashed 
look  at  their  daughter.  The  professor  actually 
flushed  with  shame.  It  seemed  to  him  that  he  had 
just  committed  an  atrocity  upon  the  heart  of  his  child. 
The  instinct  of  each  of  them  was  to  go  to  her  and 
console  her  in  their  arms.  She  noted  it  immediately, 
and  seemed  to  fear  it.  She  spoke  in  a  clear  and  even 
voice.  "  I  don't  think,  father,  that  you  should  dis 
tress  me  by  supposing  that  I  am  concerned  at  all  if 
Mr.  Coleman  cares  to  get  Nora  Black  over  here." 

"  Not  at  all,"  stuttered  the  professor.     "  I " 

Mrs.  Wainwright's  consternation  turned  suddenly 
to  anger.  "He  is  a  scapegrace.  A  rascal.  A — 
a " 

"  Oh,"  said  Marjory,  coolly,  "  I  don't  see  why  it  isn't 
his  own  affair.  He  didn't  really  present  her  to  you, 
mother,  you  remember  ?  She  seemed  quite  to  force 
her  way  at  first,  and  then  you — you  did  the  rest.  It 
should  be  very  easy  to  avoid  her,  now  that  we  are  out 
of  the  wilderness.  And  then  it  becomes  a  private 
matter  of  Mr.  Coleman's.  For  my  part,  I  rather  liked 
her.  I  don't  see  such  a  dreadful  calamity." 

"  Marjory  !  "  screamed  her  mother.  "  How  dreadful. 
Liked  her !  Don't  let  me  hear  you  say  such  shocking 
things." 

"  I  fail  to  see  anything  shocking,"  answered  Marjory, 
stolidly. 

The    professor    was    looking    helplessly    from    his 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  199 

daughter  to  his  wife,  and  from  his  wife  to  his  daughter, 
like  a  man  who  was  convinced  that  his  troubles 
would  never  end.  This  new  catastrophe  created  a 
different  kind  of  difficulty,  but  he  considered  that  the 
difficulties  were  as  robust  as  had  been  the  preceding 
ones.  He  put  on  his  hat  and  went  out  of  the  room. 
He  felt  an  impossibility  of  saying  anything  to  Cole- 
man,  but  he  felt  that  he  must  look  upon  him.  He 
must  look  upon  this  man  and  try  to  know  from  his 
manner  the  measure  of  guilt.  And  incidentally  he 
longed  for  the  machinery  of  a  finished  society  which 
prevents  its  parts  from  clashing,  prevents  it  with  its 
great  series  of  law  upon  law,  easily  operative  but  re 
lentless.  Here  he  felt  as  a  man  flung  into  the  jungle 
with  his  wife  and  daughter,  where  they  could  become 
the  victims  of  any  sort  of  savagery.  His  thought  re 
ferred  once  more  to  what  he  considered  the  invaluable 
services  of  Coleman,  and  as  he  observed  them  in  con 
junction  with  the  present  accusation,  he  was  simply 
dazed.  It  was  then  possible  that  one  man  could  play 
two  such  divergent  parts.  He  had  not  learned  this 
at  Washurst.  But  no  ;  the  world  was  not  such  a  bed 
of  putrefaction.  He  would  not  believe  it ;  he  would 
not  believe  it. 

After  adventures  which  require  great  nervous  en 
durance,  it  is  only  upon  the  second  or  third  night 
that  the  common  man  sleeps  hard.  The  students 
had  expected  to  slumber  like  dogs  on  the  first  night 


200  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

after  their  trials,  but  none  slept  long,  and  few  slept 
soundly. 

Coleman  was  the  first  man  to  arise.  When  he  left 
the  room  the  students  were  just  beginning  to  blink. 
He  took  his  dragoman  among  the  shops  and  he 
bought  there  all  the  little  odds  and  ends  which  might 
go  to  make  up  the  best  breakfast  in  Arta.  If  he  had 
had  news  of  certain  talk  he  probably  would  not  have 
been  playing  dragoman  for  eleven  people.  Instead,  he 
would  have  been  buying  breakfast  for  one.  During  his 
absence  the  students  arose  and  performed  their  frugal 
toilets.  Considerable  attention  was  paid  to  Coke  by 
the  others.  "  He  made  a  monkey  of  you,"  said  Peter 
Tounley  with  unction.  "  He  twisted  you  until  you 
looked  like  a  wet,  grey  rag.  You  had  better  leave 
this  wise  guy  alone." 

It  was  not  the  night  nor  was  it  meditation  that 
had  taught  Coke  anything,  but  he  seemed  to  have 
learned  something  from  the  mere  lapse  of  time.  In 
appearance  he  was  subdued,  but  he  managed  to  make  a 
temporary  jauntiness  as  he  said  :  "  Oh,  I  don't  know." 

"  Well,  you  ought  to  know,"  said  he  who  was  called 
Billie.  "You  ought  to  know.  You  made  an 
egregious  snark  of  yourself.  Indeed,  you  sometimes 
resembled  a  boojum.  Anyhow,  you  were  a  plain 
chump.  You  exploded  your  face  about  something  of 
which  you  knew  nothing,  and  I'm  damned  if  I  believe 
you'd  make  even  a  good  retriever." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  201 

"You're  a  half-bred  water-spaniel,"  blurted  Peter 
Tounley.  "  And,"  he  added,  musingly,  "  that  is  a 
pretty  low  animal." 

Coke  was  argumentative.  "  Why  am  I  ? "  he 
asked,  turning  his  head  from  side  to  side.  "  I  don't 
see  where  I  was  so  wrong." 

"  Oh,  dances,  balloons,  picnics,  parades  and  ascen 
sions,"  they  retorted,  profanely.  "  You  swam  volun 
tarily  into  water  that  was  too  deep  for  you.  Swim  out. 
Get  dry.  Here's  a  towel." 

Coke,  smitten  in  the  face  with  a  wet  cloth  rolled  into 
a  ball,  grabbed  it  and  flung  it  futilely  at  a  well-dodging 
companion.  "  No,"  he  cried,  "  I  don't  see  it.  Now 
look  here.  I  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't  all  resent 
this  Nora  Black  business." 

One  student  said  :  "  Well,  what's  the  matter  with 
Nora  Black,  anyhow  ?  " 

Another  student  said  :  "  I  don't  see  how  you've 
been  issued  any  license  to  say  things  about  Nora 
Black." 

Another  student  said  dubiously  :  "  Well,  he  knows 
her  well." 

And  then  three  or  four  spoke  at  once.  "  He  was 
very  badly  rattled  when  she  appeared  upon  the  scene." 

Peter  Tounley  asked  :  "  Well,  which  of  you  people 
know  anything  wrong  about  Nora  Black  ?  " 

There  was  a  pause,  and  then  Coke  said  :  "  Oh,  of 
course — I  don't  know — but — 


202  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

He  who  was  called  Billie  then  addressed  his  com 
panions.  "  It  wouldn't  be  right  to  repeat  any  old  lie 
about  Nora  Black,  and  by  the  same  token  it  wouldn't 
be  right  to  see  old  Mother  Wainwright  chummin'  with 
her.  There  is  no  wisdom  in  going  further  than  that. 
Old  Mother  Wainwright  don't  know  that  her  fair 
companion  of  yesterday  is  the  famous  comic  opera 
star.  For  my  part,  I  believe  that  Coleman  is  simply 
afraid  to  tell  her.  I  don't  think  he  wished  to  see 
Nora  Black  yesterday  any  more  than  he  wished  to 
see  the  devil.  The  discussion,  as  I  understand  it — 
concerned  itself  only  with  what  Coleman  had  to  do 
with  the  thing,  and  yesterday  anybody  could  see  that 
he  was  in  a  panic." 

They  heard  a  step  on  the  stair,  and  directly  Cole 
man  entered,  followed  by  his  dragoman.  They  were 
laden  with  the  raw  material  for  breakfast.  The  cor 
respondent  looked  keenly  among  the  students,  for  it 
was  plain  that  they  had  been  talking  of  him.  It 
rilled  him  with  rage,  and  for  a  stifling  moment  he 
could  not  think  why  he  failed  to  immediately  decamp 
in  chagrin  and  leave  eleven  orphans  to  whatever  fate 
their  general  incompetence  might  lead  them.  It 
struck  him  as  a  deep  shame  that  even  then  he  and  his 
paid  man  were  carrying  in  the  breakfast.  He  wanted 
to  fling  it  all  on  the  floor  and  walk  out.  Then  he 
remembered  Marjory.  She  was  the  reason.  She  was 
the  reason  for  everything. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  203 

But  he  could  not  repress  certain  of  his  thoughts. 
"Say,  you  people,"  he  said,  icily,  "you  had  better 
soon  learn  to  hustle  for  yourselves.  I  may  be  a  drago 
man,  and  a  butler,  and  a  cook,  and  a  housemaid,  but 
I'm  blowed  if  I'm  a  wet  nurse."  In  reality,  he  had 
taken  the  most  generous  pleasure  in  working  for  the 
others  before  their  eyes  had  even  been  opened  from 
sleep,  but  it  was  now  all  turned  to  wormwood.  It  is 
certain  that  even  this  could  not  have  deviated  this 
executive  man  from  labour  and  management,  because 
these  were  his  life.  But  he  felt  that  he  was  about  to 
walk  out  of  the  room,  consigning  them  all  to  Hades. 
His  glance  of  angry  reproach  fastened  rtself  mainly 
upon  Peter  Tounley,  because  he  knew  that  of  all, 
Peter  was  the  most  innocent. 

Peter  Tounley  was  abashed  by  this  glance.  "  So 
you've  brought  us  something  to  eat,  old  man.  That 
is  tremendously  nice  of  you — we — appreciate  it  like 
— everything." 

Coleman  was  mollified  by  Peter's  tone.  Peter  had 
had  that  emotion  which  is  equivalent  to  a  sense  of 
guilt,  although  in  reality  he  was  speckless.  Two  or 
three  of  the  other  students  bobbed  up  to  a  sense  of 
the  situation.  They  ran  to  Coleman,  and  with  polite 
cries  took  his  provisions  from  him.  One  dropped  a 
bunch  of  lettuce  on  the  floor,  and  others  reproached 
him  with  scholastic  curses.  Coke  was  seated  near  the 
window,  half  militant,  half  conciliatory.  It  was 


204  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

impossible  for  him  to  keep  up  a  manner  of  deadly 
enmity  while  Coleman  was  bringing  in  his  breakfast. 
He  would  have  much  preferred  that  Coleman  had  not 
brought  in  his  breakfast.  He  would  have  much  pre 
ferred  to  have  foregone  breakfast  altogether.  He 
would  have  much  preferred  anything.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  conspiracy  of  circumstance  to  put  him  in  the 
wrong  and  make  him  appear  as  a  ridiculous  young 
peasant.  He  was  the  victim  of  a  benefaction,  and  he 
hated  Coleman  harder  now  than  at  any  previous  time. 
He  saw  that  if  he  stalked  out  and  took  his  breakfast 
alone  in  a  cafe,  the  others  would  consider  him  still 
more  of  an  outsider.  Coleman  had  expressed  himself 
like  a  man  of  the  world  and  a  gentleman,  and  Coke 
was  convinced  that  he  was  a  superior  man  of  the 
world  and  a  superior  gentleman,  but  that  he  simply 
had  not  had  words  to  express  his  position  at  the 
proper  time.  Coleman  was  glib.  Therefore,  Coke 
had  been  the  victim  of  an  attitude  as  well  as  of  a 
benefaction.  And  so  he  deeply  hated  Coleman. 

The  others  were  talking  cheerfully.  "What  the 
deuce  are  these,  Coleman  ?  Sausages  ?  Oh,  my. 
And  look  at  these  burlesque  fishes.  Say,  these  Greeks 
don't  care  what  they  eat.  Them  thar  things  am  sar 
dines  in  the  crude  state.  No  ?  Great  God,  look  at 
those  things.  Look.  What?  Yes,  they  are.  Rad 
ishes.  Greek  synonym  for  radishes." 

The  professor  entered.     "  Oh,"  he  said  apologetic- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  205 

ally,  as  if  he  were  intruding  in  a  boudoir.  All  his 
serious  desire  to  probe  Coleman  to  the  bottom  ended 
in  embarrassment.  Mayhap  it  was  not  a  law  of  feeling, 
but  it  happened  at  any  rate.  He  had  come  in  a  puz 
zled  frame  of  mind,  even  an  accusative  frame  of 
mind,  and  almost  immediately  he  found  himself  suffer 
ing  like  a  culprit  before  his  judge.  It  is  a  phenome 
non  of  what  we  call  guilt  and  innocence. 

Coleman  welcomed  him  cordially.  "  Well,  profes 
sor,  good-morning.  I've  rounded  up  some  things  that 
at  least  may  be  eaten." 

"  You  are  very  good  ;  very  considerate,  Mr.  Cole- 
man,"  answered  the  professor,  hastily.  "  I  am  sure 
we  are  much  indebted  to  you."  He  had  scanned  the 
correspondent's  face,  and  it  had  been  so  devoid  of 
guile  that  he  was  fearful  that  his  suspicion,  a  base 
suspicion,  of  this  noble  soul  would  be  detected. 
"  No,  no,  we  can  never  thank  you  enough." 

Some  of  the  students  began  to  caper  with  a  sort  of 
decorous  hilarity  before  their  teacher.  "  Look  at  the 
sausage,  professor.  Did  you  ever  see  such  sausage  ? 
Isn't  it  salubrious  ?  And  see  these  other  things,  sir. 
Aren't  they  curious  ?  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  they 
were  alive.  Turnips,  sir  ?  No,  sir.  I  think  they  are 
Pharisees.  I  have  seen  a  Pharisee  look  like  a  pelican, 
but  I  have  never  seen  a  Pharisee  look  like  a  turnip,  so 
I  think  these  turnips  must  be  Pharisees,  sir.  Yes, 
they  may  be  walrus.  We're  not  sure.  Anyhow,  their 


206  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

angles  are  geometrically  all  wrong.  Peter,  look  out." 
Some  green  stuff  was  flung  across  the  room.  The 
professor  laughed  ;  Coleman  laughed.  Despite  Coke, 
dark-browed,  sulking,  and  yet  desirous  of  reinstating 
himself,  the  room  had  waxed  warm  with  the  old  col 
lege  feeling,  the  feeling  of  lads  who  seemed  never  to 
treat  anything  respectfully,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
managed  to  treat  the  real  things  with  respect.  The 
professor  himself  contributed  to  their  wild  carouse 
over  the  strange  Greek  viands.  It  was  a  vivacious 
moment  common  to  this  class  in  times  of  relaxation, 
and  it  was  understood  perfectly. 

Coke  arose.  "  I  don't  see  that  I  have  any  friends 
here,"  he  said,  hoarsely,  "  and  in  consequence  I  don't 
see  why  I  should  remain  here." 

All  looked  at  him.  At  the  same  moment  Mrs. 
Wainwright  and  Marjory  entered  the  room. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

"  GOOD-MORNING,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright  jovially 
to  the  students  and  then  she  stared  at  Coleman  as  if  he 
were  a  sweep  at  a  wedding. 

"  Good-morning,"  said  Marjory. 

Coleman  and  the  students  made  reply.  "  Good- 
morning.  Good  -  morning.  Good- morning.  Good- 
morning " 

It  was  curious  to  see  this  greeting,  this  common 
phrase,  this  bit  of  old  ware,  this  antique,  come  upon  a 
dramatic  scene  and  pulverise  it.  Nothing  remained 
but  a  ridiculous  dust.  Coke,  glowering,  with  his  lips 
still  trembling  from  heroic  speech,  was  an  angry  clown, 
a  pantaloon  in  rage.  Nothing  was  to  be  done  to  keep 
him  from  looking  like  an  ass.  He  strode  toward  the 
door  mumbling  about  a  walk  before  breakfast. 

Mrs.  Wainwright  beamed  upon  him.  "  Why,  Mr. 
Coke,  not  before  breakfast  ?  You  surely  won't  have 
time."  It  was  grim  punishment.  He  appeared  to  go 
blind,  and  he  fairly  staggered  out  of  the  door  mum 
bling  again,  mumbling  thanks  or  apologies  or 
explanations.  About  the  mouth  of  Coleman  played  a 
sinister  smile.  The  professor  cast  upon  his  wife  a 
glance  expressing  weariness.  It  was  as  if  he  said  : 


208  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  There  you  go  again.  You  can't  keep  your  foot  out 
of  it."  She  understood  the  glance,  and  so  she  asked 
blankly:  "Why.  What's  the  matter?  Oh."  Her 
belated  mind  grasped  that  it  was  an  aftermath  of  the 
quarrel  of  Coleman  and  Coke.  Marjory  looked  as  if 
she  was  distressed  in  the  belief  that  her  mother  had 
been  stupid.  Coleman  was  outwardly  serene.  It  was 
Peter  Tounley  who  finally  laughed  a  cheery,  healthy 
laugh  and  they  all  looked  at  him  with  gratitude  as  if 
his  sudden  mirth  had  been  a  real  statement  of  recon 
ciliation  and  consequent  peace. 

The  dragoman  and  others  disported  themselves  un 
til  a  breakfast  was  laid  upon  the  floor.  The  adventur 
ers  squatted  upon  the  floor.  They  made  a  large 
company.  The  professor  and  Coleman  discussed  the 
means  of  getting  to  Athens.  Peter  Tounley  sat  next 
to  Marjory.  "  Peter,"  she  said,  privately,  "  what  was 
all  this  trouble  between  Coleman  and  Coke  ?  " 

Peter  answered  blandly :  "  Oh,  nothing  at  all. 
Nothing  at  all." 

"Well,  but "  she  persisted,  "  what  was  the  cause 

of  it?" 

He  looked  at  her  quaintly.  He  was  not  one  of 
those  in  love  with  her,  but  he  was  interested  in  the  af 
fair.  "  Don't  you 'know  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  understood  from  his  manner  that  she  had  been 
some  kind  of  an  issue  in  the  quarrel.  "  No,"  she 
answered,  hastily.  "  I  don't." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  209 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mean  that,"  said  Peter.  "  I  only  meant 
—I  only  meant — oh,  well,  it  was  nothing — really." 

"  It  must  have  been  about  something,"  continued 
Marjory.  She  continued,  because  Peter  had  deniol 
that  she  was  concerned  in  it.  "  Whose  fault?" 

"  I  really  don't  know.  It  was  all  rather  confusing," 
lied  Peter,  tranquilly. 

Coleman  and  the  professor  decided  to  accept  a  plan 
of  the  correspondent's  dragoman  to  start  soon  on  the 
first  stage  of  the  journey  to  Athens.  The  dragoman 
had  said  that  he  had  found  two  large  carriages 
rentable. 

Coke,  the  outcast,  walked  alone  in  the  narrow  streets. 
The  flight  of  the  crown  prince's  army  from  Larissahad 
just  been  announced  in  Arta,  but  Coke  was  probably 
the  most  woebegone  object  on  the  Greek  peninsula. 

He  encountered  a  strange  sight  on  the  streets.  A 
woman  garbed  in  the  style  for  walking  of  an  afternoon 
on  upper  Broadway  was  approaching  him  through  a 
mass  of  kilted  mountaineers  and  soldiers  in  soiled 
overcoats.  Of  course  he  recognised  Nora  Black. 

In  his  conviction  that  everybody  in  the  world  was 
at  this  time  considering  him  a  mere  worm,  he  was 
sure  that  she  would  not  heed  him.  Beyond  that  he 
had  been  presented  to  her  notice  in  but  a  transient  and 
cursory  fashion.  But  contrary  to  his  conviction,  she 
turned  a  radiant  smile  upon  him.  "  Oh,"  she  said, 
brusquely,  "  you  are  one  of  the  students.  Good- 


210  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

morning."  In  her  manner  was  all  the  confidence  of 
an  old  warrior,  a  veteran,  who  addresses  the  universe 
with  assurance  because  of  his  past  battles. 

Coke  grinned  at  this  strange  greeting.  "  Yes,  Miss 
Black,"  he  answered,  "  I  am  one  of  the  students." 

She  did  not  seem  to  quite  know  how  to  formulate 
her  next  speech.  "  Er — I  suppose  you're  going  to 
Athens  at  once  ?  You  must  be  glad  after  your  horrid 
experiences." 

"  I  believe  they  are  going  to  start  for  Athens  to 
day,"  said  Coke. 

Nora  was  all  attention.  "  '  They  ?  '  "  she  repeated. 
"  Aren't  you  going  with  them  ?  " 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  *  *  Well " 

She  saw  of  course  that  there  had  been  some  kind 
of  trouble.  She  laughed.  "  You  look  as  if  somebody 
had  kicked  you  down  stairs,"  she  said,  candidly.  She 
at  once  assumed  an  intimate  manner  toward  him 
which  was  like  a  temporary  motherhood.  "Come, 
walk  with  me  and  tell  me  all  about  it."  There  was  in 
her  tone  a  most  artistic  suggestion  that  whatever  had 
happened  she  was  on  his  side.  He  was  not  loath. 
The  street  was  full  of  soldiers  whose  tongues  clattered 
so  loudly  that  the  two  foreigners  might  have  been 
wandering  in  a  great  cave  of  the  winds.  "  Well,  what 
was  the  row  about  ?  "  asked  Nora.  "  And  who  was  in 
it?" 

It  would  have  been  no  solace  to  Coke  to  pour  out 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  211 

his  tale  even  if  it  had  been  a  story  that  he  could  have 
told  Nora.  He  was  not  stopped  by  the  fact  that  he 
had  gotten  himself  in  the  quarrel  because  he  had  in 
sulted  the  name  of  the  girl  at  his  side.  He  did  not 
think  of  it  at  that  time.  The  whole  thing  was  now  ex 
tremely  vague  in  outline  to  him  and  he  only  had  a 
dull  feeling  of  misery  and  loneliness.  He  wanted  her 
to  cheer  him. 

Nora  laughed  again.  "  Why,  you're  a  regular  little 
kid.  Do  you  mean  to  say  you've  come  out  here  sulk 
ing  alone  because  of  some  nursery  quarrel?  "  He  was 
ruffled  by  her  manner.  It  did  not  contain  the  cheer 
ing  he  required.  "  Oh,  I  don't  know  that  I'm  such  a 
regular  little  kid,"  he  said,  sullenly.  "  The  quarrel 
was  not  a  nursery  quarrel." 

"Why  don't  you  challenge  him  to  a  duel?"  asked 
Nora,  suddenly.  She  was  watching  him  closely. 

"  Who  ?  "  said  Coke. 

"  Coleman,  you  stupid,"  answered  Nora. 

They  stared  at  each  other,  Coke  paying  her  first  the 
tribute  of  astonishment  and  then  the  tribute  of  admi 
ration.  "Why,  how  did  you  guess  that?"  he  de 
manded, 

"  Oh,"  said  Nora,  "  I've  known  Rufus  Coleman  for 
years,  and  he  is  always  rowing  with  people." 

"That  is  just  it,"  cried  Coke  eagerly.  "That  is 
just  it.  I  fairly  hate  the  man.  Almost  all  of  the 
other  fellows  will  stand  his  abuse,  but  it  riles  me,  I  tell 


212  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

you.  I  think  he  is  a  beast.  And,  of  course,  if  you 
seriously  meant  what  you  said  about  challenging  him 
to  a  duel — I  mean  if  there  is  any  sense  in  that  sort  of 
thing — I  would  challenge  Coleman.  I  swear  I  would. 
I  think  he's  a  great  bluffer,  anyhow.  Shouldn't  won 
der  if  he  would  back  out.  Really,  I  shouldn't. 

Nora  smiled  humourously  at  a  house  on  her  side  of 
the  narrow  way.  "  I  wouldn't  wonder  if  he  did 
either,"  she  answered.  After  a  time  she  said  :  "  Well, 
do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have  definitely  shaken 
them  ?  Aren't  you  going  back  to  Athens  with  them 
or  anything?  " 

"  I — I  don't  see  how  I  can,"  he  said,  morosely. 

"  Oh,"  she  said.  She  reflected  for  a  time.  At  last 
she  turned  to  him  archly  and  asked :  "  Some  words 
over  a  lady  ?  " 

Coke  looked  at  her  blankly.  He  suddenly  remem 
bered  the  horrible  facts.  "  No — no — not  over  a 
lady." 

"  My  dear  boy,  you  are  a  liar,"  said  Nora,  freely. 
"  You  are  a  little  unskilful  liar.  It  was  some  words 
over  a  lady,  and  the  lady's  name  is  Marjory  Wain- 
wright." 

Coke  felt  as  though  he  had  suddenly  been  let  out 
of  a  cell,  but  he  continued  a  mechanical  denial.  "  No, 
no  *  *  It  wasn't  truly  *  *  upon  my  word  *  *  " 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Nora.  "  I  know  better.  Don't 
you  think  you  can  fool  me,  you  little  cub.  I  know 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  213 

you're  in  love  with  Marjory  Wainwright,  and  you 
think  Coleman  is  your  rival.  What  a  blockhead  you 
are.  Can't  you  understand  that  people  see  these 
things? " 

"  Well—"  stammered  Coke. 

"  Nonsense,"  said  Nora  again.  "  Don't  try  to  fool 
me,  you  may  as  well  understand  that  it's  useless.  I 
am  too  wise." 

"  Well—"  stammered  Coke. 

"  Go  ahead,"  urged  Nora.  "  Tell  me  about  it. 
Have  it  out." 

He  began  with  great  importance  and  solemnity. 
"  Now,  to  tell  you  the  truth  *  *  that  is  why  I  hate 
him  *  f  I  hate  him  like  anything.  *  *  I  can't  see 
why  everybody  admires  him  so.  I  don't  see  anything 
to  him  myself.  I  don't  believe  he's  got  any  more 
principle  than  a  wolf.  I  wouldn't  trust  him  with  two 
dollars.  Why,  I  know  stories  about  him  that  would 
make  your  hair  curl.  When  I  think  of  a  girl  like 
Marjory " 

His  speech  had  become  a  torrent.  But  here  Nora 
raised  her  hand.  "  Oh  !  Oh  !  Oh  !  That  will  do. 
That  will  do.  Don't  lose  your  senses.  I  don't  see 
why  this  girl  Marjory  is  any  too  good.  She  is  no 
chicken,  I'll  bet.  Don't  let  yourself  get  fooled  with 
that  sort  of  thing." 

Coke  was  unaware  of  his  incautious  expressions. 
He  floundered  on,  while  Nora  looked  at  him  as  if  she 


2i4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

wanted  to  wring  his  neck.  "  No — she's  too  fine  and 
too  good — for  him  or  anybody  like  him — she's  too 
fine  and  too  good " 

"  Aw,  rats,"  interrupted  Nora,  furiously.  "  You 
make  me  tired." 

Coke  had  a  wooden-headed  conviction  that  he  must 
make  Nora  understand  Marjory's  infinite  superiority 
to  all  others  sof  her  sex,  and  so  he  passed  into  a  pane 
gyric,  each  word  of  which  was  a  hot  coal  to  the  girl 
addressed.  Nothing  would  stop  him,  apparently.  He 
even  made  the  most  stupid  repetitions.  Nora  finally 
stamped  her  foot  formidably.  "  Will  you  stop  ? 
Will  you  stop?"  she  said  through  her  clenched  teeth. 
"  Do  you  think  I  want  to  listen  to  your  everlasting 
twaddle  about  her  ?  Why,  she's — she's  no  better  than 
other  people,  you  ignorant  little  mamma's  boy.  She's 
no  better  than  other  people,  you  swab  ! " 

Coke  looked  at  her  with  the  eyes  of  a  fish.  He  did 
not  understand.  "  But  she  is  better  than  other 
people,"  he  persisted. 

Nora  seemed  to  decide  suddenly  that  there  would 
be  no  accomplishment  in  flying  desperately  against 
this  rock-walled  conviction.  "  Oh,  well,"  she  said, 
with  marvellous  good  nature,  "  perhaps  you  are  right, 
numbskull.  But,  look  here  ;  do  you  think  she  cares 
for  him?" 

In  his  heart,  his  jealous  heart,  he  believed  that 
Marjory  loved  Coleman,  but  he  reiterated  eternally  to 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  215 

himself  that  it  was  not  true.  As  for  speaking  it  to 
another,  that  was  out  of  the  question.  "  No,"  he 
said,  stoutly,  "  she  doesn't  care  a  snap  for  him."  If 
he  had  admitted  it,  it  would  have  seemed  to  him  that 
he  was  somehow  advancing  Coleman's  chances. 

"Oh,  she  doesn't,  eh?"  said  Nora  enigmatically. 
"  She  doesn't?  "  He  studied  her  face  with  an  abrupt, 
miserable  suspicion,  but  he  repeated  doggedly  :  "  No, 
she  doesn't." 

"  Ahem,"  replied  Nora.  "  Why,  she's  set  her  cap 
for  him  all  right.  She's  after  him  for  certain.  It's  as 
plain  as  day.  Can't  you  see  that,  stupidity  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  said  hoarsely. 

"  You  are  a  fool,"  said  Nora.  "  It  isn't  Coleman 
that's  after  her.  It  is  she  that  is  after  Coleman." 

Coke  was  mulish.  "  No  such  thing.  Coleman's 
crazy  about  her.  Everybody  has  known  it  ever 
since  he  was  in  college.  You  ask  any  of  the  other 
fellows." 

Nora  was  now  very  serious,  almost  doleful.  She 
remained  still  for  a  time,  casting  at  Coke  little  glances 
of  hatred.  "  I  don't  see  my  way  clear  to  ask  any  of 
the  other  fellows,"  she  said  at  last,  with  considerable 
bitterness.  "  I'm  not  in  the  habit  of  conducting  such 
enquiries." 

Coke  felt  now  that  he  disliked  her,  and  he  read 
plainly  her  dislike  of  him.  If  they  were  the  two 
villains  of  the  play,  they  were  not  having  fun  together 


216  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

at  all.  Each  had  some  kind  of  a  deep  knowledge  that 
their  aspirations,  far  from  colliding,  were  of  such 
character  that  the  success  of  one  would  mean  at  least 
assistance  to  the  other,  but  neither  could  see  how  to 
confess  it.  Perhaps  it  was  from  shame ;  perhaps  it 
was  because  Nora  thought  Coke  to  have  little  wit ; 
perhaps  it  was  because  Coke  thought  Nora  to  have 
little  conscience.  Their  talk  was  mainly  rudderless. 
From  time  to  time  Nora  had  an  inspiration  to  come 
boldly  at  the  point,  but  this  inspiration  was  commonly 
defeated  by  some  extraordinary  manifestation  of 
Coke's  incapacity.  To  her  mind,  then,  it  seemed  like 
a  proposition  to  ally  herself  to  a  butcher-boy  in  a 
matter  purely  sentimental.  She  wondered  indig 
nantly  how  she  was  going  to  conspire  with  this  lad, 
who  puffed  out  his  infantile  cheeks  in  order  to  con 
ceitedly  demonstrate  that  he  did  not  understand  the 
game  at  all.  She  hated  Marjory  for  it.  Evidently  it 
was  only  the  weaklings  who  fell  in  love  with  that  girl. 
Coleman  was  an  exception,  but  then,  Coleman  was 
misled  by  extraordinary  artifices.  She  meditated  for 
a  moment  if  she  should  tell  Coke  to  go  home  and  not 
bother  her.  What  at  last  decided  the  question  was 
his  unhappiness.  She  clung  to  this  unhappiness  for 
its  value  as  it  stood  alone,  and  because  its  reason  for 
existence  was  related  to  her  own  unhappiness.  "  You 
say  you  are  not  going  back  to  Athens  with  your  party. 
I  don't  suppose  you're  going  to  stay  here.  I'm  going 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  217 

back  to  Athens  to-day.  I  came  up  here  to  see  a 
battle,  but  it  doesn't  seem  that  there  are  to  be  any 
more  battles.  The  fighting  will  now  all  be  on  the 
other  side  of  the  mountains."  Apparently  she  had 
learned  in  some  haphazard  way  that  the  Greek  penin 
sula  was  divided  by  a  spine  of  almost  inaccessible 
mountains,  and  the  war  was  thus  split  into  two  simul 
taneous  campaigns.  The  Arta  campaign  was  known 
to  be  ended.  "  If  you  want  to  go  back  to  Athens 
without  consorting  with  your  friends,you  had  better  go 
back  with  me.  I  can  take  you  in  my  carriage  as  far 
as  the  beginning  of  the  railroad.  Don't  you  worry. 
You've  got  money  enough,  haven't  you  ?  The  pro 
fessor  isn't  keeping  your  money  ?  " 

"Yes,"  he  said  slowly,  "I've  got  money  enough." 
He  was  apparently  dubious  over  the  proposal. 

In  their  abstracted  walk  they  had  arrived  in  front  of 
the  house  occupied  by  Coleman  and  the  Wainwright 
party.  Two  carriages,  forlorn  in  dusty  age,  stood  be 
fore  the  door.  Men  were  carrying  out  new  leather 
luggage  and  flinging  it  into  the  traps  amid  a  great 
deal  of  talk  which  seemed  to  refer  to  nothing.  Nora 
and  Coke  stood  looking  at  the  scene  without  either 
thinking  of  the  importance  of  running  away,  when 
out  tumbled  seven  students,  followed  immediately  but 
in  more  decorous  fashion  by  the  Wainwrights  and 
Coleman. 

Some  student  set  up  a  whoop.     "  Oh,  there  he  is. 


218  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

There's  Coke.     Hey,  Coke,  where  you  been?     Here 
he  is,  professor." 

For  a  moment  after  the  hoodlum  had  subsided,  the 
two  camps  stared  at  each  other  in  silence. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

NORA  and  Coke  were  an  odd  looking  pair  at  the 
time.  They  stood  indeed  as  if  rooted  to  the  spot, 
staring  vacuously,  like  two  villagers,  at  the  surprising 
travellers.  It  was  not  an  eternity  before  the  practiced 
girl  of  the  stage  recovered  her  poise,  but  to  the  end  of 
the  incident  the  green  youth  looked  like  a  culprit  and 
a  fool.  Mrs.  Wainwright's  glower  of  offensive  in 
credulity  was  a  masterpiece.  Marjory  nodded  pleas 
antly  ;  the  professor  nodded.  The  seven  students 
clambered  boisterously  into  the  forward  carriage 
making  it  clang  with  noise  like  a  rook's  nest.  They 
shouted  to  Coke.  "  Come  on  ;  all  aboard  ;  come  on, 
Coke;  we're  off.  Hey,  there,  Cokey,  hurry  up." 
The  professor,  as  soon  as  he  had  seated  himself  on 
the  forward  seat  of  the  second  carriage,  turned  in 
Coke's  general  direction  and  asked  formally :  "  Mr. 
Coke,  you  are  coming  with  us?  "  He  felt  seemingly 
much  in  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  abandoning  the 
headstrong  young  man,  and  this  doubt  was  not  at  all 
decreased  by  Coke's  appearance  with  Nora  Black.  As 
far  as  he  could  tell,  any  assertion  of  authority  on  his 
part  would  end  only  in  a  scene  in  which  Coke  would 
probably  insult  him  with  some  gross  violation  of 


220  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

collegiate  conduct.  As  at  first  the  young  man  made 
no  reply,  the  professor  after  waiting  spoke  again. 
"  You  understand,  Mr.  Coke,  that  if  you  separate 
yourself  from  the  party  you  encounter  my  strongest 
disapproval,  and  if  I  did  not  feel  responsible  to  the 
college  and  your  father  for  you  safe  journey  to  New 
York  I — I  don't  know  but  what  I  would  have  you  ex 
pelled  by  cable  if  that  were  possible." 

Although  Coke  had  been  silent,  and  Nora  Black  had 
had  the  appearance  of  being  silent,  in  reality  she  had 
lowered  her  chin  and  whispered  sideways  and  swiftly. 
She  had  said :  "  Now,  here's  your  time.  Decide 
quickly,  and  don't  look  such  a  wooden  Indian." 

Coke  pulled  himself  together  with  a  visible  effort, 
and  spoke  to  the  professor  from  an  inspiration  in 
which  he  had  no  faith.  "  I  understand  my  duties  to 
you,  sir,  perfectly.  I  also  understand  my  duty  to  the 
college.  But  I  fail  to  see  where  either  of  these  obli 
gations  require  me  to  accept  the  introduction  of  ob 
jectionable  people  into  the  party.  If  I  owe  a  duty  to 
the  college  and  to  you,  I  don't  owe  any  to  Coleman, 
and,  as  I  understand  it,  Coleman  was  not  in  the 
original  plan  of  this  expedition.  If  such  had  been  the 
case,  I  would  not  have  been  here.  I  can't  tell  what 
the  college  may  see  fit  to  do,  but  as  for  my  father  I 
I  have  no  doubt  of  how  he  will  view  it." 

The  first  one  to  be  electrified  by  the  speech  was 
Coke  himself.  He  saw  with  a  kind  of  sub-conscious 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  221 

amazement  this  volley  of  bird-shot  take  effect  upon 
the  face  of  the  old  professor.  The  face  of  Marjory 
flushed  crimson  as  if  her  mind  had  sprung  to  a  fear 
that  if  Coke  could  develop  ability  in  this  singular 
fashion  he  might  succeed  in  humiliating  her  father  in 
the  street  in  the  presence  of  the  seven  students,  her 
mother,  Coleman  and — herself.  She  had  felt  the  bird- 
shot  sting  her  father. 

When  Coke  had  launched  forth,  Coleman  with  his 
legs  stretched  far  apart  had  just  struck  a  match  on 
the  wall  of  the  house  and  was  about  to  light  a  cigar. 
His  groom  was  leading  up  his  horse.  He  saw  the 
value  of  Coke's  argument  more  appreciatively  and 
sooner  perhaps  than  did  Coke.  The  match  dropped 
from  his  fingers,  and  in  the  white  sunshine  and  still 
air  it  burnt  on  the  pavement  orange  coloured  and 
with  langour.  Coleman  held  his  cigar  with  all  five 
fingers — in  a  manner  out  of  all  the  laws  of  smoking. 
He  turned  toward  Coke.  There  was  danger  in  the 
moment,  but  then  in  a  flash  it  came  upon  him  that 
his  role  was  not  of  squabbling  with  Coke,  far  less  of 
punching  him.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  to  act  the 
part  of  a  cool  and  instructed  man  who  refused  to  be 
waylaid  into  foolishness  by  the  outcries  of  this  pout 
ing  youngster  and  who  placed  himself  in  complete 
deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  professor.  Before  the 
professor  had  time  to  embark  upon  any  reply  to  Coke, 
Coleman  was  at  the  side  of  the  carriage  and,  with  a 


222  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

fine  assumption  of  distress,  was  saying:     "Professor, 
I  could  very  easily  ride  back  to  Agrinion  alone.     It 

would  be  all  right.     I  don't  want  to " 

To  his  surprise  the  professor  waved  at  him  to  be 
silent  as  if  he  were  a  mere  child.  The  old  man's  face 
was  set  with  the  resolution  of  exactly  what  he  was 
going  to  say  to  Coke.  He  began  in  measured  tone, 
speaking  with  feeling,  but  with  no  trace  of  anger. 
"  Mr.  Coke,  it  has  probably  escaped  your  attention 
that  Mr.  Coleman,  at  what  I  consider  a  great  .deal  of 
peril  to  himself,  came  out  to  rescue  this  party — you 
and  others — and  although  he  studiously  disclaims  all 
merit  in  his  finding  us  and  bringing  us  in,  I  do  not 
regard  it  in  that  way,  and  I  am  surprised  that  any 
member  of  this  party  should  conduct  himself  in 
this  manner  toward  a  man  who  has  been  most 
devotedly  and  generously  at  our  service."  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  professor  raised  himself  and 
shook  his  finger  at  Coke,  his  voice  now  ringing  with 
scorn.  In  such  moments  words  came  to  him  and 
formed  themselves  into  sentences  almost  too  rapidly 
for  him  to  speak  them.  "  You  are  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  products  of  our  civilisation  which  I  have 
yet  come  upon.  What  do  you  mean,  sir?  Where 
are  your  senses  ?  Do  you  think  that  all  this  pulling 
and  pucking  is  manhood  ?  I  will  tell  you  what  I  will 
do  with  you.  I  thought  I  brought  out  eight  students 
to  Greece,  but  when  I  find  that  I  brought  out  seven 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  223 

students  and — er  —  an  —  ourang-outang —  don't  get 
angry,  sir — I  don't  care  for  your  anger — I  say  when  I 
discover  this  I  am  naturally  puzzled  for  a  moment.  I 
will  leave  you  to  the  judgment  of  your  peers.  Young 
gentlemen  !  " 

Of  the  seven  heads  of  the  forward  car-riage  none 
had  to  be  turned.  All  had  been  turned  since  the  be 
ginning  of  the  talk.  If  the  professor's  speech  had 
been  delivered  in  one  of  the  class-rooms  of  Was- 
hurst  they  would  have  glowed  with  delight  over  the 
butchery  of  Coke,  but  they  felt  its  portentous  aspect. 
Butchery  here  in  Greece  thousands  of  miles  from 
home  presented  to  them  more  of  the  emphasis  of 
downright  death  and  destruction.  The  professor 
called  out  :  "  Young  gentlemen,  I  have  done  all  that  I 
can  do  without  using  force,  which,  much  to  my  regret, 
is  impracticable.  If  you  will  persuade  your  fellow 
student  to  accompany  you  I  think  our  consciences 
will  be  the  better  for  not  having  left  a  weak  minded 
brother  alone  among  the  by-paths." 

The  valuable  aggregation  of  intelligence  and  refine 
ment  which  decorated  the  interior  of  the  first  carriage 
did  not  hesitate  over  answering  this  appeal.  In  fact, 
his  fellow  students  had  worried  among  themselves 
over  Coke,  and  their  desire  to  see  him  eome  out  of  his 
troubles  in  fair  condition  was  intensified  by  the  fact 
that  they  had  lately  concentrated  much  thought  upon 
him.  There  was  a  somewhat  comic  pretense  of  speak- 


224  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

ing  so  that  only  Coke  could  hear.  Their  chorus  was 
low  sung.  "  Oh,  cheese  it,  Coke.  Let  up  on  your 
self,  you  blind  ass.  Wait  till  you  get  to  Athens  and 
then  go  and  act  like  a  monkey.  All  this  is  no 
good " 

The  advice  which  came  from  the  carriage  was  all  in 
one  direction,  and  there  was  so  much  of  it  that  the 
hum  of  voices  sounded  like  a  wind  blowing  through  a 
forest. 

Coke  spun  suddenly  and  said  something  to  Nora 
Black.  Nora  laughed  rather  loudly,  and  then  the  two 
turned  squarely  and  the  Wainwright  party  contem 
plated  what  were  surely  at  that  time  the  two  most  in 
solent  backs  in  the  world. 

The  professor  looked  as  if  he  might  be  going  to 
have  a  fit.  Mrs.  Wainwright  lifted  her  eyes  toward 
heaven,  and  flinging  out  her  trembling  hands,  cried  : 
"  Oh,  what  an  outrage.  What  an  outrage !  That 
minx "  The  concensus  of  opinion  in  the  first  car 
riage  was  perfectly  expressed  by  Peter  Tounley,  who 
with  a  deep  drawn  breath,  said  :  "  Well,  I'm  damned  !  " 
Marjory  had  moaned  and  lowered  her  head  as  from  a 
sense  of  complete  personal  shame.  Coleman  lit  his 
cigar  and  mounted  his  horse.  "  Well,  I  suppose  there 
is  nothing  for  it  but  to  be  off,  professor?  ''  His  tone 
was  full  of  regret,  with  sort  of  poetic  regret.  For  a 
moment  the  professor  looked  at  him  blankly,  and  then 
gradually  recovered  part  of  his  usual  manner.  "  Yes," 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  225 

he  said  sadly,  "  there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  go  on." 
At  a  word  from  the  dragoman,  the  two  impatient 
drivers  spoke  gutturally  to  their  horses  and  the  car 
riages  whirled  out  of  Arta.  Coleman,  his  dragoman 
and  the  groom  trotted  in  the  dust  from  the  wheels  of 
the  Wainwright  carriage.  The  correspondent  always 
found  his  reflective  faculties  improved  by  the  constant 
pounding  of  a  horse  on  the  trot,  and  he  was  not  sorry 
to  have  now  a  period  for  reflection,  as  well  as  this  arti 
ficial  stimulant.  As  he  viewed  the  game  he  had  in  his 
hand  about  all  the  cards  that  were  valuable.  In  fact, 
he  considered  that  the  only  ace  against  him  was  Mrs. 
Wainwright.  He  had  always  regarded  her  as  a  stupid 
person,  concealing  herself  behind  a  mass  of  trivialities 
which  were  all  conventional,  but  he  thought  now  that 
the  more  stupid  she  was  and  the  more  conventional  in 
her  triviality  the  more  she  approached  to  being  the 
very  ace  of  trumps  itself.  She  was  just  the  sort  of  a 
card  that  would  come  upon  the  table  mid  the  neat 
play  of  experts  and  by  some  inexplicable  arrangement 
of  circumstance,  lose  a  whole  game  for  the  wrong  man. 
After  Mrs.  Wainwright  he  worried  over  the  stu 
dents.  He  believed  them  to  be  reasonable  enough ; 
in  fact,  he  honoured  them  distinctly  in  regard  to  their 
powers  of  reason,  but  he  knew  that  people  generally 
hated  a  row.  It  put  them  off  their  balance,  made 
them  sweat  over  a  lot  of  pros  and  cons,  and  prevented 
them  from  thinking  for  a  time  at  least  only  of  them- 


226  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

selves.  Then  they  came  to  resent  the  principals  in  a 
row.  Of  course  the  principal,  who  was  thought  to  be 
in  the  wrong,  was  the  most  resented,  but  Coleman  be 
lieved  that,  after  all,  people  always  came  to  resent  the 
other  principal,  or  at  least  be  impatient  and  sus 
picious  of  him.  If  he  was  a  correct  person,  why  was 
he  in  a  row  at  all  ?  The  principal  who  had  been  in 
the  right  often  brought  this  impatience  and  suspicion 
upon  himself,  no  doubt,  by  never  letting  the  matter 
end,  continuing  to  yawp  about  his  virtuous  suffering, 
and  not  allowing  people  to  return  to  the  steady  con 
templation  of  their  own  affairs.  As  a  precautionary 
measure  he  decided  to  say  nothing  at  all  about  the 
late  trouble,  unless  some  one  addressed  him  upon  it. 
Even  then  he  would  be  serenely  laconic.  He  felt  that 
he  must  be  popular  with  the  seven  students.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  nice  that  in  the  presence  of  Marjory 
they  should  like  him,  and  in  the  second  place  he 
feared  to  displease  them  as  a  body  because  he  believed 
that  he  had  some  dignity.  Hoodlums  are  seldom 
dangerous  to  other  hoodlums,  but  if  they  catch  pom 
posity  alone  in  the  field,  pomposity  is  their  prey. 
They  tear  him  to  mere  bloody  ribbons,  amid  heartless 
shrieks.  When  Coleman  put  himself  on  the  same 
basis  with  the  students,  he  could  cope  with  them 
easily,  but  he  did  not  want  the  wild  pack  after  him 
when  Marjory  could  see  the  chase.  And  so  he  rea- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  227 

soned  that  his  best  attitude  was  to  be  one  of  rather 
taciturn  serenity. 

On  the  hard  military  road  the  hoofs  of  the  horses 
made  such  clatter  that  it  was  practically  impossible  to 
hold  talk  between  the  carriages  and  the  horsemen 
without  all  parties  bellowing.  The  professor,  how 
ever,  strove  to  overcome  the  difficulties.  He  was  ap 
parently  undergoing  a  great  amiability  toward  Cole- 
man.  Frequently  he  turned  with  a  bright  face,  and 
pointing  to  some  object  in  the  landscape,  obviously 
tried  to  convey  something  entertaining  to  Coleman's 
mind.  Coleman  could  see  his  lips  mouth  the  words. 
He  always  nodded  cheerily  in  answer  and  yelled. 

The  road  ultimately  became  that  straight  lance-han 
dle  which  Coleman — it  seemed  as  if  many  years  had 
passed — had  traversed  with  his  dragoman  and  the 
funny  little  carriers.  He  was  fixing  in  his  mind  a 
possible  story  to  the  Wainwrights  about  the  snake  and 
his  first  dead  Turk.  But  suddenly  the  carriages  left 
this  road  and  began  a  circuit  of  the  Gulf  of  Arta, 
winding  about  an  endless  series  of  promontories.  The 
journey  developed  into  an  excess  of  dust  whirling  from 
a  road,  which  half  circled  the  waist  of  cape  after  cape. 
All  dramatics  were  lost  in  the  rumble  of  wheels  and 
in  the  click  of  hoofs.  They  passed  a  little  soldier 
leading  a  prisoner  by  a  string.  They  passed  more 
frightened  peasants,  who  seemed  resolved  to  flee  down 
into  the  very  boots  of  Greece.  And  people  looked  at 


228  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

them  with  scowls,  envying  them  their  speed.  At  the 
little  town  from  which  Coleman  embarked  at  one  stage 
of  the  upward  journey,  they  found  crowds  in  the 
streets.  There  was  no  longer  any  laughter,  any  con 
fidence,  any  vim.  All  the  spirit  of  the  visible  Greek 
nation  see,med  to  have  been  knocked  out  of  it  in  two 
blows.  But  still  they  talked  and  never  ceased  talking. 
Coleman  noticed  that  the  most  curious  changes  had 
come  upon  them  since  his  journey  to  the  frontier. 
They  no  longer  approved  of  foreigners.  They  seemed 
to  blame  the  travellers  for  something  which  had  tran 
spired  in  the  past  few  days.  It  was  not  that  they 
really  blamed  the  travellers  for  the  nation's  calamity  : 
It  was  simply  that  their  minds  were  half  stunned  by 
the  news  of  defeats,  and,  not  thinking  for  a  moment  to 
blame  themselves,  or  even  not  thinking  to  attribute 
the  defeats  to  mere  numbers  and  skill,  they  were  sav 
agely  eager  to  fasten  it  upon  something  near  enough 
at  hand  for  the  operation  of  vengeance. 

Coleman  perceived  that  the  dragoman,  all  his  former 
plumage  gone,  was  whining  and  snivelling  as  he  argued 
to  a  dark-browed  crowd  that  was  running  beside  the 
cavalcade.  The  groom,  who  always  had  been  a  miracu 
lously  laconic  man,  was  suddenly  launched  forth  gar 
rulously.  The  drivers,  from  their  high  seats,  palavered 
like  mad  men,  driving  with  one  hand  and  gesturing 
with  the  other,  explaining  evidently  their  own  great 
innocence. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  229 

Coleman  saw  that  there  was  trouble,  but  he  only  sat 
more  stiffly  in  his  saddle.  The  eternal  gabble  moved 
him  to  despise  the  situation.  At  any  rate,  the  travel 
lers  would  soon  be  out  of  this  town  and  on  to  a  more 
sensible  region. 

However,  he  saw  the  driver  of  the  first  carriage  sud 
denly  pull  up  before  a  little  blackened  coffee  shop  and 
inn.  The  dragoman  spurred  forward  and  began  wild 
expostulation.  The  second  carriage  pulled  close  be 
hind  the  other.  The  crowd,  murmuring  like  a  Roman 
mob  in  Nero's  time,  closed  around  them. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

COLEMAN  pushed  his  horse  coolly  through  to  the 
dragoman's  side.  "What  is  it?"  he  demanded.  The 
dragoman  was  broken-voiced.  "  These  peoples,  they 
say  you  are  Germans,  all  Germans,  and  they  are 
angry,"  he  wailed.  "  I  can  do  nossing — nossing." 

"  Well,  tell  these  men  to  drive  on,"  said  Coleman, 
"  tell  them  they  must  drive  on." 

"  They  will  not  drive  on,"  wailed  the  dragoman, 
still  more  loudly.  "  I  can  do  nossing.  They  say  here 
is  place  for  feed  the  horse.  It  is  the  custom  and  they 
will  note  drive  on." 

"  Make  them  drive  on." 

"  They  will  note,"  shrieked  the  agonised  servitor. 

Coleman  looked  from  the  men  waving  their  arms 
and  chattering  on  the  box-seats  to  the  men  of  the 
crowd  who  also  waved  their  arms  and  chattered.  In 
this  throng  far  to  the  rear  of  the  fighting  armies  there 
did  not  seem  to  be  a  single  man  who  was  not  able- 
bodied,  who  had  not  been  free  to  enlist  as  a  soldier. 
They  were  of  that  scurvy  behind-the-rear-guard  which 
every  nation  has  in  degree  proportionate  to  its  worth. 
The  manhood  of  Greece  had  gone  to  the  frontier, 
leaving  at  home  this  rabble  of  talkers,  most  of  whom 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  231 

were  armed  with  rifles  for  mere  pretention.  Coleman 
loathed  them  to  the  end  of  his  soul.  He  thought 
them  a  lot  of  infants  who  would  like  to  prove  their 
courage  upon  eleven  innocent  travellers,  all  but  un 
armed,  and  in  this  fact  he  was  quick  to  see  a  great 
danger  to  the  Wainwright  party.  One  could  deal 
with  soldiers  ;  soldiers  would  have  been  ashamed  to 
bait  helpless  people  ;  but  this  rabble— 

The  fighting  blood  of  the  correspondent  began  to 
boil,  and  he  really  longed  for  the  privilege  to  run 
amuck  through  the  multitude.  But  a  look  at  the 
Wainwrights  kept  him  in  his  senses.  The  professor 
had  turned  pale  as  a  dead  man.  He  sat  very  stiff  and 
still  while  his  wife  clung  to  him,  hysterically  beseech 
ing  him  to  do  something,  do  something,  although 
what  he  was  to  do  she  could  not  have  even  imagined. 

Coleman  took  the  dilemma  by  its  beard.  He  dis 
mounted  from  his  horse  into  the  depths  of  the  crowd 
and  addressed  the  Wainwrights.  "  I  suppose  we  had 
better  go  into  this  place  and  have  some  coffee  while 
the  men  feed  their  horses.  There  is  no  use  in  trying 
to  make  them  go  on."  His  manner  was  fairly 
casual,  but  they  looked  at  him  in  glazed  horror.  "It 
is  the  only  thing  to  do.  This  crowd  is  not  nearly  so 
bad  as  they  think  they  are.  But  we've  got  to  look  as 
if  we  felt  confident."  He  himself  had  no  confidence 
with  this  angry  buzz  in  his  ears,  but  he  felt  certain 
that  the  only  correct  move  was  to  get  everybody  as 


232  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

quickly  as  possible  within  the  shelter  of  the  inn.  It 
might  not  be  much  of  a  shelter  for  them,  but  it  was 
better  than  the  carriages  in  the  street. 

The  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  seemed  to  be 
considering  their  carriage  as  a  castle,  and  they  looked 
as  if  their  terror  had  made  them  physically  incapable 
of  leaving  it.  Coleman  stood  waiting.  Behind  him 
the  clapper-tongued  crowd  was  moving  ominously. 
Marjory  arose  and  stepped  calmly  down  to  him. 

He  thrilled  to  the  end  of  every  nerve.  It  was  as  if 
she  had  said :  "  I  don't  think  there  is  great  danger, 
but  if  there  is  great  danger,  why  *  *  here  I  am  * 
ready  *  with  you."  It  conceded  everything, 
admitted  everything.  It  was  a  surrender  without  a 
blush,  and  it  was  only  possible  in  the  shadow  of  the 
crisis  when  they  did  not  know  what  the  next 
moments  might  contain  for  them.  As  he  took  her 
hand  and  she  stepped  past  him  he  whispered  swiftly 
and  fiercely  in  her  ear,  "  I  love  you."  She  did  not 
look  up,  but  he  felt  that  in  this  quick  incident  they 
had  claimed  each  other,  accepted  each  other  with  a 
far  deeper  meaning  and  understanding  than  could  be 
possible  in  a  mere  drawing-room.  She  laid  her  hand 
on  his  arm,  and  with  the  strength  of  four  men  he 
twisted  his  horse  into  the  making  of  furious  prancing 
side-steps  toward  the  door  of  the  inn,  clanking  side 
steps  which  mowed  a  wide  lane  through  the  crowd  for 
Marjory,  his  Marjory.  He  was  as  haughty  as  a  new 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  233 

German  lieutenant,  and  although  he  held  the  fuming 
horse  with  only  his  left  hamd,  he  seemed  perfectly 
capable  of  hurling  the  animal  over  a  house  without 
calling  into  service  the  arm  which  was  devoted  to 
Marjory. 

It  was  not  an  exhibition  of  coolness  such  as  wins 
applause  on  the  stage  when  the  hero  placidly  lights  a 
cigarette  before  the  mob  which  is  clamouring  for  his 
death.  It  was,  on  the  contrary,  an  exhibition  of 
downright  classic  disdain,  a  disdain  which  with  the 
highest  arrogance  declared  itself  in  every  glance  of  his 
eye  into  the  faces  about  him.  "  Very  good  * 
attack  me  if  you  like  *  *  there  is  nothing  to  prevent 
it  *  *  you  mongrels."  Every  step  of  his  progress 
was  made  a  renewed  insult  to  them.  The  very  air 
was  charged  with  what  this  lone  man  was  thinking 
of  this  threatening  crowd. 

His  audacity  was  invincible.  They  actually  made 
way  for  it  as  quickly  as  children  would  flee  from  a 
ghost.  The  horse,  dancing  with  ringing  steps,  with 
his  glistening  neck  arched  toward  the  iron  hand  at  his 
bit,  this  powerful,  quivering  animal  was  a  regular  en 
gine  of  destruction,  and  they  gave  room  until  Cole- 
man  halted  him  at  an  exclamation  from  Marjory. 
"  My  mother  and  father."  But  they  were  coming 
close  behind  and  Coleman  resumed  this  contemptuous 
journey  to  the  door  of  the  inn.  The  groom,  with  his 
new-born  tongue,  was  clattering  there  to  the  populace. 


234  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Coleman  gave  him  the  horse  and  passed  after  the 
Wainwrights  into  the  public  room  of  the  inn.  He 
was  smiling.  What  simpletons  ! 

A  new  actor  suddenly  appeared  in  the  person  of  the 
keeper  of  the  inn.  He  too  had  a  rifle  and  a  prodigious 
belt  of  cartridges,  but  it  was  plain  at  once  that  he  had 
elected  to  be  a  friend  of  the  worried  travellers.  A 
large  part  of  the  crowd  were  thinking  it  necessary  to 
enter  the  inn  and  pow-wow  more.  But  the  innkeeper 
stayed  at  the  door  with  the  dragoman,  and  together 
they  vociferously  held  back  the  tide.  The  spirit  of 
the  mob  had  subsided  to  a  more  reasonable  feeling. 
They  no  longer  wished  to  tear  the  strangers  limb  from 
limb  on  the  suspicion  that  they  were  Germans.  They 
now  were  frantic  to  talk  as  if  some  inexorable  law 
had  kept  them  silent  for  ten  years  and  this  was  the 
very  moment  of  their  release.  Whereas,  their  simul 
taneous  and  interpolating  orations  had  throughout 
made  noise  much  like  a  coal-breaker. 

Coleman  led  the  Wainwrights  to  a  table  in  a  far 
part  of  the  room.  They  took  chairs  as  if  he  had  com 
manded  them.  "  What  an  outrage,"  he  said  jubilantly. 
"  The  apes."  He  was  keeping  more  than  half  an  eye 
upon  the  door,  because  he  knew  that  the  quick  com 
ing  of  the  students  was  important. 

Then  suddenly  the  storm  broke  in  wrath.  Something 
had  happened  in  the  street.  The  jabbering  crowd  at 
the  door  had  turned  and  were  hurrying  upon  some 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  235 

central  tumult.  The  dragoman  screamed  to  Coleman. 
Colcman  jumped  and  grabbed  the  dragoman.  "  Tell 
this  man  to  take  them  somewhere  up  stairs,"  he  cried, 
indicating  the  \Vain\vrights  with  a  sweep  of  his  arm. 
The  innkeeper  seemed  to  understand  sooner  than  the 
dragoman,  and  he  nodded  eagerly.  The  professor  was 
crying:  "What  is  it,  Mr.  Coleman  ?  What  is  it?" 
An  instant  later,  the  correspondent  was  out  in  the 
street,  buffeting  toward  a  scuffle.  Of  course  it  was 
the  students.  It  appeared,  afterward,  that  those 
seven  young  men,  with  their  feelings  much  ruffled, 
had  been  making  the  best  of  their  way  toward  the 
door  of  the  inn,  when  a  large  man  in  the  crowd,  dur 
ing  a  speech  which  was  surely  most  offensive,  had  laid 
an  arresting  hand  on  the  shoulder  of  Peter  Tounley. 
Whereupon  the  excellent  Peter  Tounley  had  hit  the 
large  man  on  the  jaw  in  such  a  swift  and  skilful  man 
ner  that  the  large  man  had  gone  spinning  through  a 
group  of  his  countrymen  to  the  hard  earth,  where  he 
lay  holding  his  face  together  and  howling.  Instantly, 
of  course,  there  had  been  a  riot.  It  might  well  be 
said  that  even  then  the  affair  could  have  ended  in  a  lot 
of  talking,  but  in  the  first  place  the  students  did  not 
talk  modern  Greek,  and  in  the  second  place  they  were 
now  past  all  thought  of  talking.  They  regarded  this 
affair  seriously  as  a  fight,  and  now  that  they  at  last 
were  in  it,  they  were  in  it  for  every  pint  of  blood  in 
their  bodies.  Such  a  pack  of  famished  wolves  had 


236  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

never  before  been  let  loose  upon  men  armed  with 
Gras  rifles. 

They  all  had  been  expecting  the  row,  and  when 
Peter  Tounley  had  found  it  expedient  to  knock  over 
the  man,  they  had  counted  it  a  signal :  their  arms  im 
mediately  begun  to  swing  out  as  if  they  had  been 
wound  up.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Coleman  swam 
brutally  through  the  Greeks  and  joined  his  countrymen. 
He  was  more  frightened  than  any  of  those  novices. 
When  he  saw  Peter  Tounley  overthrow  a  dreadful 
looking  brigand  whose  belt  was  full  of  knives,  and  who 
crashed  to  the  ground  amid  a  clang  of  cartridges,  he 
was  appalled  by  the  utter  simplicity  with  which  the 
lads  were  treating  the  crisis.  It  was  to  them  no  com 
mon  scrimmage  at  Washurst,  of  course,  but  it  flashed 
through  Coleman's  mind  that  they  had  not  the 
slightest  sense  of  the  size  of  the  thing.  He  expected 
every  instant  to  see  the  flash  of  knives  or  to  hear  the 
deafening  intonation  of  a  rifle  fired  against  his  ear.  It 
seemed  to  him  miraculous  that  the  tragedy  was  so  long 
delayed. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  in  the  affray.  He  jilted 
one  man  under  the  chin  with  his  elbow  in  a  way  that 
reeled  him  off  from  Peter  Tounley's  back ;  a  little  per 
son  in  checked  clothes  he  smote  between  the  eyes  ;  he 
received  a  gun-butt  emphatically  on  the  side  of  the 
neck ;  he  felt  hands  tearing  at  him  ;  he  kicked  the  pins 
out  from  under  three  men  in  rapid  succession.  He 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  237 

was  always  yelling.  "  Try  to  get  to  the  inn,  boys,  try 
to  get  to  the  inn.  Look  out,  Peter.  Take  care  for  his 
knife,  Peter —  Suddenly  he  whipped  a  rifle  out  of 
the  hands  of  a  man  and  swung  it,  whistling.  He  had 
gone  stark  mad  with  the  others. 

The  boy  Billy,  drunk  from  some  blows  and  bleeding, 
was  already  staggering  toward  the  inn  over  the  clear- 
age  which  the  wild  Coleman  made  with  the  clubbed 
rifle.  The  others  followed  as  well  as  they  might  while 
beating  off  a  discouraged  enemy.  The  remarkable 
innkeeper  had  barred  his  windows  with  strong  wood 
shutters.  He  held  the  door  by  the  crack  for  them,  and 
they  stumbled  one  by  one  through  the  portal.  Cole 
man  did  not  know  why  they  were  not  all  dead,  nor  did 
he  understand  the  intrepid  and  generous  behaviour  of 
the  innkeeper,  but  at  any  rate  he  felt  that  the 
fighting  was  suspended,  and  he  wanted  to  see  Marjory. 
The  innkeeper  was  doing  a  great  pantomime  in  the 
middle  of  the  darkened  room,  pointing  to  the  outer 
door  and  then  aiming  his  rifle  at  it  to  explain  his  in 
tention  of  defending  them  at  all  costs.  Some  of  the 
students  moved  to  a  billiard  table  and  spread  them 
selves  wearily  upon  it.  Others  sank  down  where  they 
stood.  Outside  the  crowd  was  beginning  to  roar. 
Coleman's  groom  crept  out  from  under  the  little 
coffee  bar  and  comically  saluted  his  master.  The 
dragoman  was  not  present.  Coleman  felt  that  he 
must  see  Marjory,  and  he  made  signs  to  the  innkeeper. 


238  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  latter  understood  quickly,  and  motioned  that 
Coleman  should  follow  him.  They  passed  together 
through  a  dark  hall  and  up  a  darker  stairway,  where 
after  Coleman  stepped  out  into  a  sun-lit  room,  saying 
loudly:  "  Oh,  it's  all  right.  It's  all  over.  Don't 
worry." 

Three  wild  people  were  instantly  upon  him.  "  Oh, 
what  was  it?  What  did  happen?  Is  anybody  hurt? 
Oh,  tell  us,  quick!"  It  seemed  at  the  time  that  it 
was  an  avalanche  of  three  of  them,  and  it  was  not  un 
til  later  that  he  recognised  that  Mrs.  Wainwright  had 
tumbled  the  largest  number  of  questions  upon  him. 
As  for  Marjory,  she  had  said  nothing  until  the  time 
when  she  cried  :  "  Oh — he  is  bleeding — he  is  bleeding. 
Oh,  come,  quick!"  She  fairly  dragged  him  out  of 
one  room  into  another  room,  where  there  was  a  jug  of 
water.  She  wet  her  handkerchief  and  softly  smote 
his  wounds.  "Bruises,"  she  said,  piteously,  tearfully. 
"Bruises.  Oh,  dear!  How  they  must  hurt  you.' 
The  handkerchief  was  soon  stained  crimson. 

When  Coleman  spoke  his  voice  quavered.  "  It  isn't 
anything.  Really,  it  isn't  anything."  He  had  not 
known  of  these  wonderful  wounds,  but  he  almost 
choked  in  the  joy  of  Marjory's  ministry  and  her  half- 
coherent  exclamations.  This  proud  and  beautiful 
girl,  this  superlative  creature,  was  reddening  her  hand 
kerchief  with  his  blood,  and  no  word  of  his  could 
have  prevented  her  from  thus  attending  him.  He 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  239 

could  hear  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  fussing 
near  him,  trying  to  be  of  use.  He  would  have  liked 
to  have  been  able  to  order  them  out  of  the  room. 
Marjory's  cool  fingers  on  his  face  and  neck  had  con 
jured  within  him  a  vision  of  an  intimacy  that  was  even 
sweeter  than  anything  which  he  had  imagined,  and  he 
longed  to  pour  out  to  her  the  bubbling,  impassioned 
speech  which  came  to  his  lips.  But,  always  doddering 
behind  him,  were  the  two  old  people,  strenuous  to  be 
of  help  to  him. 

Suddenly  a  door  opened  and  a  youth  appeared, 
simply  red  with  blood.  It  was  Peter  Tounley.  His 
first  remark  was  cheerful.  "  Well,  I  don't  suppose 
those  people  will  be  any  too  quick  to  look  for  more 
trouble." 

Coleman  felt  a  swift  pang  because  he  had  forgotten 
to  announce  the  dilapidated  state  of  all  the  students. 
He  had  been  so  submerged  by  Marjory's  tenderness 
that  all  else  had  been  drowned  from  his  mind.  His 
heart  beat  quickly  as  he  waited  for  Marjory  to  leave 
him  and  rush  to  Peter  Tounley. 

But  she  did  nothing  of  the  sort.  "  Oh,  Peter,"  she 
cried  in  distress,  and  then  she  turned  back  to  Coleman. 
It  was  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  who,  at  last 
finding  a  field  for  their  kindly  ambitions,  flung  them 
selves  upon  Tounley  and  carried  him  off  to  another 
place.  Peter  was  removed,  crying :  "  Oh,  now,  look 


240  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

here,  professor,  I'm   not  dying  or  anything   of   that 
sort-  -" 

Coleman  and  Marjory  were  left  alone.  He  suddenly 
and  forcibly  took  one  of  her  hands  and  the  blood 
stained  handkerchief  dropped  to  the  floor. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

FROM  below  they  could  hear  the  thunder  of  weap 
ons  and  fists  upon  the  door  of  the  inn  amid  a  great 
clamour  of  tongues.  Sometimes  there  arose  the  ar 
gumentative  howl  of  the  innkeeper.  Above  this  roar, 
Coleman's  quick  words  sounded  in  Marjory's  ear. 
"  I've  got  to  go.  I've  got  to  go  back  to  the  boys,  but 
— I  love  you." 

"  Yes,  go,  go,"  she  whispered  hastily.  "  You  should 
be  there,  but — come  back." 

He  held  her  close  to  him.  "  But  you  are  mine,  re 
member,"  he  said  fiercely  and  sternly.  "You  arc 
mine — forever — as  I  am  yours — remember." 

Her  eyes  half  closed.  She  made  intensely  solemn 
answer.  "Yes."  He  released  her  and  was  gone. 

In  the  glooming  coffee  room  of  the  inn  he  found 
the  students,  the  dragoman,  the  groom  and  the  inn 
keeper  armed  with  a  motley  collection  of  weapons  which 
ranged  from  the  rifle  of  the  innkeeper  to  the  table  leg 
in  the  hands  of  Peter  Tounley.  The  last  named  young 
student  of  archaeology  was  in  a  position  of  temporary 
leadership  and  holding  a  great  pow-bow  with  the  inn 
keeper  through  the  medium  of  piercing  outcries  by 
the  dragoman.  Coleman  had  not  yet  understood  why 


242  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

none  of  them  had  been  either  stabbed  or  shot  in  the 
fight  in  the  steeet,  but  it  seemed  to  him  now  that 
affairs  were  leading  toward  a  crisis  of  tragedy.  He 
thought  of  the  possibilities  of  having  the  dragoman  go 
to  an  upper  window  and  harangue  the  people,  but  he 
saw  no  chance  of  success  in  such  a  plan.  He  saw  that 
the  crowd  would  merely  howl  at  the  dragoman  while 
the  dragoman  howled  at  the  crowd.  He  then  asked 
if  there  was  any  other  exit  from  the  inn  by  which 
they  could  secretly  escape.  He  learned  that  the  door 
into  the  coffee  room  was  the  only  door  which  pierced 
the  four  great  walls.  All  he  could  then  do  was  to 
find  out  from  the  innkeeper  how  much  of  a  siege  the 
place  could  stand,  and  to  this  the  innkeeper  answered 
volubly  and  with  smiles  that  this  hostelry  would  easily 
endure  until  the  mercurial  temper  of  the  crowd  had 
darted  off  in  a  new  direction.  It  may  be  curious  to 
note  here  that  all  of  Peter  Tounley's  impassioned 
communication  with  the  innkeeper  had  been  devoted 
to  an  endeavour  to  learn  what  in  the  devil  was  the 
matter  with  these  people,  as  a  man  about  to  be  bitten 
by  poisonous  snakes  should,  first  of  all,  furiously  in 
sist  upon  learning  their  exact  species  before  deciding 
upon  either  his  route,  if  he  intended  to  run  away,  or 
his  weapon  if  he  intended  to  fight  them. 

The  innkeeper  was  evidently  convinced  that  this 
house  would  withstand  the  rage  of  the  populace,  and 
he  was  such  an  unaccountably  gallant  little  chap  that 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  243 

Coleman  trusted  entirely  to  his  word.  His  only  fear 
or  suspicion  was  an  occasional  one  as  to  the  purity  of 
the  dragoman's  translation. 

Suddenly  there  was  half  a  silence  on  the  mob  with- 
out  the  door.  It  is  inconceivable  that  it  could  become 
altogether  silent,  but  it  was  as  near  to  a  rational  still 
ness  of  tongues  as  it  was  able.  Then  there  was  a 
loud  knocking  by  a  single  fist  and  a  new  voice  began 
to  spin  Greek,  a  voice  that  was  somewhat  like  the 
rattle  of  pebbles  in  a  tin  box.  Then  a  startling  voice 
called  out  in  English.  "  Are  you  in  there,  Rufus?  " 

Answers  came  from  every  English  speaking  person 
in  the  room  in  one  great  outburst.  "  Yes." 

"  Well,  let  us  in,"  called  Nora  Black.  "  It  is  all 
right.  We've  got  an  officer  with  us." 

"  Open  the  door,"  said  Coleman  with  speed.  The 
little  innkeeper  labouriously  unfastened  the  great  bars, 
and  when  the  door  finally  opened  there  appeared  on 
the  threshold  Nora  Black  with  Coke  and  an  officer  of 
infantry,  Nora's  little  old  companion,  and  Nora's 
dragoman. 

"  We  saw  your  carriage  in  the  street,"  cried  the 
queen  of  comic  opera  as  she  swept  into  the  room. 
She  was  beaming  with  delight.  "  What  is  all  the  row, 
anyway  ?  O-o-oh,  look  at  that  student's  nose.  Who 
hit  him?  And  look  at  Rufus.  What  have  you  boys 
been  doing?" 

Her  little  Greek  officer  of  infantry  had  stopped  the 


244  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

mob  from  flowing  into  the  room.  Coleman  looked 
toward  the  door  at  times  with  some  anxiety.  Nora, 
noting  it,  waved  her  hand  in  careless  reassurance. 
"  Oh,  it's  all  right.  Don't  worry  about  them  any 
more.  He  is  perfectly  devoted  to  me.  He  would 
die  there  on  the  threshold  if  I  told  him  it  would 
please  me.  Speaks  splendid  French.  I  found  him 
limping  along  the  road  and  gave  him  a  lift.  And  now 
do  hurry  up  and  tell  me  exactly  what  happened." 

They  all  told  what  had  happened,  while  Nora  and 
Coke  listened  agape.  Coke,  by  the  way,  had  quite 
floated  back  to  his  old  position  with  the  students.  It 
had  been  easy  in  the  stress  of  excitement  and  wonder. 
Nobody  had  any  time  to  think  of  the  excessively  re 
mote  incidents  of  the  early  morning.  All  minor  inter 
ests  were  lost  in  the  marvel  of  the  present  situation. 

"  Who  landed  you  in  the  eye,  Billie  ? "  asked  the 
awed  Coke.  "  That  was  a  bad  one." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  Billie.  "You  really 
couldn't  tell  who  hit  you,  you  know.  It  was  a  football 
rush.  They  had  guns  and  knives,  but  they  didn't  use 
'em.  I  don't  know  why.  Jinks !  I'm  getting  pretty 
stiff.  My  face  feels  as  if  it  were  made  of  tin.  Did 
they  give  you  people  a  row,  too  ?  " 

"  No  ;  only  talk.'  That  little  officer  managed  them. 
Out-talked  them,  I  suppose.  Hear  him  buzz,  now." 

The  Wainwrights  came  down  stairs.  Nora  Black 
went  confidently  forward  to  meet  them.  "You've 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  245 

added  one  more  to  your  list  of  rescuers,"  she  cried, 
with  her  glowing,  triumphant  smile.  "  Miss  Black  of 
the  New  York  Daylight — at  your  service.  How  in 
the  world  do  you  manage  to  get  yourselves  into  such 
dreadful  scrapes  ?  You  are  the  most  remarkable  peo 
ple.  You  need  a  guardian.  Why,  you  might  have  all 
been  killed.  How  exciting  it  must  seem  to  be  regu 
larly  of  your  party."  She  had  shaken  cordially  one  of 
Mrs.  Wainwright's  hands  without  that  lady  indicating 
assent  to  the  proceeding,  but  Mrs.  Wainwright  had 
not  felt  repulsion.  In  fact  she  had  had  no  emotion 
springing  directly  from  it.  Here  again  the  marvel  of 
the  situation  came  to  deny  Mrs.  Wainwright  the  right 
to  resume  a  state  of  mind  which  had  been  so  painfully 
interesting  to  her  a  few  hours  earlier. 

The  professor,  Coleman  and  all  the  students  were 
talking  together.  Coke  had  addressed  Coleman  civilly 
and  Coleman  had  made  a  civil  reply.  Peace  was  upon 
them. 

Nora  slipped  her  arm  lovingly  through  Marjory's 
arm.  "  That  Rufus  !  Oh,  that  Rufus,"  she  cried  joy 
ously.  "  I'll  give  him  a  good  scolding  as  soon  as  I 
see  him  alone.  I  might  have  foreseen  that  he  would 
get  you  all  into  trouble.  The  old  stupid  !  " 

Marjory  did  not  appear  to  resent  anything.  "  Oh,  I 
don't  think  it  was  Mr.  Coleman's  fault  at  all,"  she  an 
swered  calmly.  "  I  think  it  was  more  the  fault  of 
Peter  Tounley,  poor  boy." 


246  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Well,  I'd  be  glad  to  believe  it,  I'd  be  glad  to  be 
lieve  it,"  said  Nora.  "  I  want  Rufus  to  keep  out  of 
that  sort  of  thing,  but  he  is  so  hot-headed  and  foolish." 
If  she  had  pointed  out  her  proprietary  stamp  on  Cole- 
man's  cheek  she  could  not  have  conveyed  what  she 
wanted  with  more  clearness. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  impassive  Marjory,  "  I  don't  think 
you  need  have  any  doubt  as  to  whose  fault  it  was,  if 
there  were  any  of  our  boys  at  fault.  Mr.  Coleman 
was  inside  when  the  fighting  commenced,  and  only  ran 
out  to  help  the  boys.  He  had  just  brought  us  safely 
through  the  mob,  and,  far  from  being  hot-headed  and 
foolish,  he  was  utterly  cool  in  manner,  impressively 
cool,  I  thought.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  reassure  you 
on  these  points,  for  I  see  that  they  worry  you." 

"  Yes,  they  do  worry  me,"  said  Nora,  densely. 
"  They  worry  me  night  and  day  when  he  is  away  from 
me." 

"  Oh,"  responded  Marjory,  "  I  have  never  thought 
of  Mr.  Coleman  as  a  man  that  one  would  worry  about 
much.  We  consider  him  very  self-reliant,  able  to  take 
care  of  himself  under  almost  any  conditions,  but  then, 
of  course,  we  do  not  know  him  at  all  in  the  way  that 
you  know  him.  I  should  think  that  you  would  find 
that  he  came  off  rather  better  than  you  expected  from 
most  of  his  difficulties.  But  then,  of  course,  as  I  said, 
you  know  him  so  much  better  than  we  do."  Her 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  24; 

easy  indifference  was  a  tacit  dismissal  of  Coleman  as 
a  topic. 

Nora,  now  thoroughly  alert,  glanced  keenly  into  the 
other  girl's  face,  but  it  was  inscrutable.  The  actress 
had  intended  to  go  careering  through  a  whole  circle 
of  daring  illusions  to  an  intimacy  with  Coleman,  but 
here,  before  she  had  really  developed  her  attack, 
Marjory,  with  a  few  conventional  and  indifferent 
sentences,  almost  expressive  of  boredom,  had  made 
the  subject  of  Coleman  impossible.  An  effect  was  left 
upon  Nora's  mind  that  Marjory  had  been  extremely 
polite  in  listening  to  much  nervous  talk  about  a  person 
in  whom  she  had  no  interest. 

The  actress  was  dazed.  She  did  not  know  how  it 
had  all  been  done.  Where  was  the  head  of  this  thing  ? 
And  where  was  the  tail  ?  A  fog  had  mysteriously 
come  upon  all  her  brilliant  prospects  of  seeing  Mar 
jory  Wainwright  suffer,  and  this  fog  was  the  product  of 
a  kind  of  magic  with  which  she  was  not  familiar. 
She  could  not  think  how  to  fight  it.  After  being 
simply  dubious  throughout  a  long  pause,  she  in  the 
end  went  into  a  great  rage.  She  glared  furiously  at 
Marjory,  dropped  her  arm  as  if  it  had  burned  her  and 
moved  down  upon  Coleman.  She  must  have  reflected 
that  at  any  rate  she  could  make  him  wriggle.  When 
she  was  come  near  to  him,  she  called  out :  "  Rufus  !  " 
In  her  tone  was  all  the  old  insolent  statement  of 
ownership.  Coleman  might  have  been  a  poodle.  She 


248  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

knew  how  to  call  his  name  in  a  way  that  was  nothing 
less  than  a  public  scandal.  On  this  occasion  every 
body  looked  at  him  and  then  went  silent,  as  people 
awaiting  the  startling  denouement  of  a  drama. 
"  Rufus  !  "  She  was  baring  his  shoulder  to  show  the 
fleur-de-lis  of  the  criminal.  The  students  gaped. 

Coleman's  temper  was,  if  one  may  be  allowed  to 
speak  in  that  way,  broken  loose  inside  of  him.  He 
could  hardly  breathe ;  he  felt  that  his  body  was  about 
to  explode  into  a  thousand  fragments.  He  simply 
snarled  out  "  What  ?  "  Almost  at  once  he  saw  that 
she  had  at  last  goaded  him  into  making  a  serious 
tactical  mistake.  It  must  be  admitted  that  it  is  only 
when  the  relations  between  a  man  and  a  woman  are 
the  relations  of  wedlock,  or  at  least  an  intimate  re 
semblance  to  it,  that  the  man  snarls  out  "  What  ?  "  to 
the  woman.  Mere  lovers  say  "  I  beg  your  pardon  ?  " 
It  is  only  Cupid's  finished  product  that  spits  like  a 
cat.  Nora  Black  had  called  him  like  a  wife,  and  he 
had  answered  like  a  husband.  For  his  cause,  his 
manner  could  not  possibly  have  been  worse.  He  saw 
the  professor  stare  at  him  in  surprise  and  alarm,  and 
felt  the  excitement  of  the  eight  students.  These 
latter  were  diabolic  in  the  celerity  with  which  they 
picked  out  meanings.  It  was  as  plain  to  them  as  if 
Nora  Black  had  said  :  "  He  is  my  property." 

Coleman  would  have  given  his  nose  to  have  been 
able  to  recall  that  single  reverberating  word.  But  he 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  249 

saw  that  the  scene  was  spelling  downfall  for  him,  and 
he  went  still  more  blind  and  desperate  of  it.  His 
despair  made  him  burn  to  make  matters  worse.  He 
did  not  want  to  improve  anything  at  all.  "What?" 
he  demanded.  "  What  do  ye'  want  ?  " 

Nora  was  sweetly  reproachful.  "  I  left  my  jacket 
in  the  carriage,  and  I  want  you  to  get  it  for  me." 

"Well,  get  it  for  yourself,  do  you  see?  Get  it  for 
yourself." 

Now  it  is  plainly  to  be  seen  that  no  one  of  the 
people  listening  there  had  ever  heard  a  man  speak 
thus  to  a  woman  who  was  not  his  wife.  Whenever 
they  had  heard  that  form  of  spirited  repartee  it  had 
come  from  the  lips  of  a  husband.  Coleman's  rude 
speech  was  to  their  ears  a  flat  announcement  of  an 
extraordinary  intimacy  between  Nora  Black  and  the 
correspondent.  Any  other  interpretation  would  not 
have  occurred  to  them.  It  was  so  palpable  that  it 
greatly  distressed  them  with  its  arrogance  and 
boldness.  The  professor  had  blushed.  The  very 
milkiest  word  in  his  mind  at  the  time  was  the  word 
vulgarity. 

Nora  Black  had  won  a  great  battle.  It  was  her 
Agincourt.  She  had  beaten  the  clever  Coleman  in  a 
way  that  had  left  little  of  him  but  rags.  However, 
she  could  have  lost  it  all  again  if  she  had  shown  her 
feeling  of  elation.  At  Coleman's  rudeness  her  manner 
indicated  a  mixture  of  sadness  and  embarrassment. 
Her  suffering  was  so  plain  to  the  eye  that  Peter 


250  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Tounley  was  instantly  moved.  "  Can't  I  get  your 
jacket  for  you,  Miss  Black  ?  "  he  asked  hastily,  and  at 
her  grateful  nod  he  was  off  at  once. 

Coleman  was  resolved  to  improve  nothing.  His 
overthrow  seemed  to  him  to  be  so  complete  that  he 
could  not  in  any  way  mend  it  without  a  sacrifice  of  his 
dearest  prides.  He  turned  away  from  them  all  and 
walked  to  an  isolated  corner  of  the  room.  He  would 
abide  no  longer  with  them.  He  had  been  made  an 
outcast  by  Nora  Black,  and  he  intended  to  be  an  out 
cast.  There  was  no  sense  in  attempting  to  stem  this 
extraordinary  deluge.  It  was  better  to  acquiesce. 

Then  suddenly  he  was  angry  with  Marjory.  He 
did  not  exactly  see  why  he  was  angry  at  Marjory, 
but  he  was  angry  at  her  nevertheless.  He  thought 
of  how  he  could  revenge  himself  upon  her.  He  de 
cided  to  take  horse  with  his  groom  and  dragoman  and 
proceed  forthwith  on  the  road,  leaving  the  jumble  as 
it  stood.  This  would  pain  Marjory,  anyhow,  he 
hoped.  She  would  feel  it  deeply,  he  hoped. 

Acting  upon  this  plan,  he  went  to  the  professor. 
"  Well,  of  course  you  are  all  right  now,  professor,  and 
if  you  don't  mind,  I  would  like  to  leave  you — go  on 
ahead.  I've  got  a  considerable  pressure  of  business 
on  my  mind,  and  I  think  I  should  hurry  on  to  Athens, 
if  you  don't  mind." 

The  professor  did  not  seem  to  know  what  to  say. 
"  Of  course,  if  you  wish  it — sorry,  I'm  sure — of  course 
it  is  as  you  please — but  you  have  been  such  a  power 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  251 

in  our  favour — it  seems  too  bad  to  lose  you— but — if 
you  wish  it — if  you  insist— 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  quite  insist,"  said  Coleman,  calmly.  "  I 
quite  insist.  Make  your  mind  easy  on  that  score, 
professor.  I  insist." 

"Well,  Mr.  Coleman,"  stammered  the  old  man. 
"  Well,  it  seems  a  great  pity  to  lose  you — you  have 
been  such  a  power  in  our  favour — 

"Oh,  you  are  now  only  eight  hours  from  the  rail 
way.  It  is  very  easy.  You  would  not  need  my  as 
sistance,  even  if  it  were  a  benefit !  " 

"  But —     •"  said  the  professor. 

Coleman's  dragoman  came  to  him  then  and  said : 
"  There  is  one  man  here  who  says  you  made  to  take 
one  rifle  in  the  fight  and  was  break  his  head.  He 
was  say  he  wants  sunthing  for  you  was  break  his 
head.  He  says  hurt." 

"  How  much  does  he  want  ? "  asked  Coleman,  im 
patiently. 

The  dragoman  wrestled  then  evidently  with  a  desire 
to  protect  this  mine  from  outside  fingers.  "  I — I  think 
two  gold  piece  plenty." 

"Take  them,"  said  Coleman.  It  seemed  to  him 
preposterous  that  this  idiot  with  a  broken  head 
should  interpolate  upon  his  tragedy.  "  Afterward, 
you  and  the  groom  get  the  three  horses  and  we  will 
start  for  Athens  at  once." 

"For  Athens?  At  once?"  said  Marjory's  voice 
in  his  ear. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

"  OH,"  said  Coleman,  "  I  was  thinking  of  starting." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Marjory,  unconcernedly. 

Coleman  shot  her  a  quick  glance.  "  I  believe  my 
period  of  usefulness  is  quite  ended,"  he  said  with  just 
a  small  betrayal  of  bitter  feeling. 

"  It  is  certainly  true  that  you  have  had  a  remark 
able  period  of  usefulness  to  us,"  said  Marjory  with  a 
slow  smile,  "  but  if  it  is  ended,  you  should  not  run 
away  from  us." 

Coleman  looked  at  her  to  see  what  she  could  mean. 
From  many  women,  these  words  would  have  been 
equal,  under  the  circumstances,  to  a  command  to  stay, 
but  he  felt  that  none  might  know  what  impulses 
moved  the  mind  behind  that  beautiful  mask.  In  his 
misery  he  thought  to  hurt  her  into  an  expression  of 
feeling  by  a  rough  speech.  "  I'm  so  in  love  with  Nora 
Black,  you  know,  that  I  have  to  be  very  careful  of 
myself." 

"  Oh,"  said  Marjory,  "  I  never  thought  of  that.  I 
should  think  you  would  have  to  be  careful  of  your 
self."  She  did  not  seem  moved  in  any  way.  Coleman 
despaired  of  finding  her  weak  spot.  She  was  adaman- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  253 

tine,  this  girl.  He  searched  his  mind  for  something 
to  say  which  would  be  still  more  gross  than  his  last 
outbreak,  but  when  he  felt  that  he  was  about  to  hit 
upon  it,  the  professor  interrupted  with  an  agitated 
speech  to  Marjory.  "You  had  better  go  to  your 
mother,  my  child,  and  see  that  you  are  all  ready  to 
leave  here  as  soon  as  the  carriages  come  up." 

"  We  have  absolutely  nothing  to  make  ready,"  said 
Marjory,  laughing.  "  But  I'll  go  and  see  if  mother 
needs  anything  before  we  start  that  I  can  get  for  her." 
She  went  away  without  bidding  good-bye  to  Coleman. 
The  sole  maddening  impression  to  him  was  that  the 
matter  of  his  going  had  not  been  of  sufficient  import 
ance  to  remain  longer  than  a  moment  upon  her  mind. 
At  the  same  time  he  decided  that  he  would  go,  irre 
trievably  go. 

Even  then  the  dragoman  entered  the  room.  "  We 
will  pack  everything  upon  the  horse  ?  " 

"  Everything — yes." 

Peter  Tounley  came  afterward.  "  You  are  not  go 
ing  to  bolt  ?" 

"Yes,  I'm  off,"  answered  Coleman  recovering  him 
self  for  Peter's  benefit.  "  See  you  in  Athens,  proba 
bly." 

Presently  the  dragoman  announced  the  readiness  of 
the  horses.  Coleman  shook  hands  with  the  students 
and  the  Professor  amid  cries  of  surprise  and  polite 
regret.  "  What  ?  Going,  old  man  ?  Really  ?  What 


254  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

for  ?  Oh,  wait  for  us.  We're  off  in  a  few  minutes. 
Sorry  as  the  devil,  old  boy,  to  see  you  go."  He 
accepted  their  protestations  with  a  somewhat  sour 
face.  He  knew  perfectly  well  that  they  were  thinking 
of  his  departure  as  something  that  related  to  Nora 
Black.  At  the  last,  he  bowed  to  the  ladies  as  a 
collection.  Marjory's  answering  bow  was  affable  ;  the 
bow  of  Mrs.  Wainwright  spoke  a  resentment  for  some 
thing  ;  and  Nora's  bow  was  triumphant  mockery.  As 
he  swung  into  the  saddle  an  idea  struck  him  with  over 
whelming  force.  The  idea  was  that  he  was  a  fool. 
He  was  a  colossal  imbecile.  He  touched  the  spur  to 
his  horse  and  the  animal  leaped  superbly,  making  the 
Greeks  hasten  for  safety  in  all  directions.  He  was  off  ; 
he  could  no  more  return  to  retract  his  devious  idiocy 
than  he  could  make  his  horse  fly  to  Athens.  What 
was  done  was  done.  He  could  not  mend  it.  And  he 
felt  like  a  man  that  had  broken  his  own  heart ; 
perversely,  childishly,  stupidly  broken  his  own  heart. 
He  was  sure  that  Marjory  was  lost  to  him.  No 
man  could  be  degraded  so  publicly  and  resent  it  so 
crudely  and  still  retain  a  Marjory.  In  his  abasement 
from  his  defeat  at  the  hands  of  Nora  Black  he  had 
performed  every  imaginable  block-hea'dish  act  and  had 
finally  climaxed  it  all  by  a  departure  which  left  the 
tongue  of  Nora  to  speak  unmolested  into  the  ear  of 
Marjory.  Nora's  victory  had  been  a  serious  blow  to 
his  fortunes,  but  it  had  not  been  so  serious  as  his  own 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  255 

subsequent  folly.  He  had  generously  muddled  his 
own  affairs  until  he  could  read  nothing  out  of  them 
but  despair. 

He  was  in  the  mood  for  hatred.  He  hated  many 
people.  Nora  Black  was  the  principal  item,  but  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  detest  the  professor,  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright,  Coke  and  all  the  students.  As  for  Marjory, 
he  would  revenge  himself  upon  her.  She  had  done 
nothing  that  he  defined  clearly  but,  at  any  rate,  he 
would  take  revenge  for  it.  As  much  as  was  possible, 
he  would  make  her  suffer.  He  would  convince  her 
that  he  was  a  tremendous  and  inexorable  person. 
But  it  came  upon  his  mind  that  he  was  powerless  in 
all  ways.  If  he  hated  many  people  they  probably 
would  not  be  even  interested  in  his  emotion  and,  as 
for  his  revenge  upon  Marjory,  it  was  beyond  his 
strength.  He  was  nothing  but  the  complaining  vic 
tim  of  Nora  Black  and  himself. 

He  felt  that  he  would  never  again  see  Marjory,  and 
while  feeling  it  he  began  to  plan  his  attitude  when 
next  they  met.  He  would  be  very  cold  and  reserved. 

At  Agrinion  he  found  that  there  would  be  no  train 
until  the  next  daybreak.  The  dragoman  was  exces 
sively  annoyed  over  it,  but  Coleman  did  not  scold  at 
all.  As  a  matter  of  fact  his  heart  had  given  a  great 
joyous  bound.  He  could  not  now  prevent  his  being 
overtaken.  They  were  only  a  few  leagues  away,  and 
while  he  was  waiting  for  the  train  they  would  easily 


256  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

cover  the  distance.  If  anybody  expressed  surprise  at 
seeing  him  he  could  exhibit  the  logical  reasons. 

If  there  had  been  a  train  starting  at  once  he  would 
have  taken  it.  His  pride  would  have  put  up  with  no 
subterfuge.  If  the  Wainwrights  overtook  him  it  was 
because  he  could  not  help  it.  But  he  was  delighted 
that  he  could  not  help  it.  There  had  been  an  inter 
position  by  some  specially  beneficent  fate.  He  felt 
like  whistling.  He  spent  the  early  half  of  the  night 
in  blissful  smoke,  striding  the  room  which  the  drago 
man  had  found  for  him.  His  head  was  full  of  plans 
and  detached  impressive  scenes  in  which  he  figured 
before  Marjory.  The  simple  fact  that  there  was  no 
train  away  from  Agrinion  until  the  next  daybreak  had 
wrought  a  stupendous  change  in  his  outlook.  He 
unhesitatingly  considered  it  an  omen  of  a  good  future. 

He  was  up  before  the  darkness  even  contained  pres 
age  of  coming  light,  but  near  the  railway  station  was 
a  little  hut  where  coffee  was  being  served  to  several 
prospective  travellers  who  had  come  even  earlier  to 
the  rendezvous.  There  was  no  evidence  of  the  Wain 
wrights. 

Coleman  sat  in  the  hut  and  listened  for  the  rumble 
of  wheels.  He  was  suddenly  appalled  that  the  Wain 
wrights  were  going  to  miss  the  train.  Perhaps  they 
had  decided  against  travelling  during  the  night.  Per 
haps  this  thing  and  perhaps  that  thing.  The  morning 
was  very  cold.  Closely  muffled  in  his  cloak,  he  went 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  257 

to  the  door  and  stared  at  where  the  road  was  whiten 
ing  out  of  night.  At  the  station  stood  a  little  spectral 
train,  and  the  engine  at  intervals  emitted  a  long,  pierc 
ing  scream  which  informed  the  echoing  land  that,  in 
all  probability,  it  was  going  to  start  after  a  time  for 
the  south.  The  Greeks  in  the  coffee  room  were,  of 
course,  talking. 

At  last  Coleman  did  hear  the  sound  of  hoofs  and 
wheels.  The  three  carriages  swept  up  in  grand  pro 
cession.  The  first  was  laden  with  students  ;  in  the 
second  was  the  professor,  the  Greek  officer,  Nora 
Black's  old  lady  and  other  persons,  all  looking  marvel 
lously  unimportant  and  shelved.  It  was  the  third 
carriage  at  which  Coleman  stared.  At  first  he 
thought  the  dim  light  deceived  his  vision,  but  in  a 
moment  he  knew  that  his  first  leaping  conception  of 
the  arrangement  of  the  people  in  this  vehicle  had 
been  perfectly  correct.  Nora  Black  and  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright  sat  side  by  side  on  the  back  seat,  while  facing 
them  were  Coke  and  Marjory. 

They  looked  cold  but  intimate. 

The  oddity  of  the  grouping  stupefied  Coleman.  It 
was  anarchy,  naked  and  unashamed.  He  could  not 
imagine  how  such  changes  could  have  been  consum 
mated  in  the  short  time  he  had  been  away  from  them, 
but  he  laid  it  all  to  some  startling  necromancy  on  the 
part  of  Nora  Black,  some  wondrous  play  which  had 
captured  them  all  because  of  its  surpassing  skill  and 


258  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

because  they  were,  in  the  main,  rather  gullible  peo 
ple.  He  was  wrong.  The  magic  had  been  wrought 
by  the  unaided  foolishness  of  Mrs.  Wainwright.  As 
soon  as  Nora  Black  had  succeeded  in  creating  an 
effect  of  intimacy  and  dependence  between  herself 
and  Coleman,  the  professor  had  flatly  stated  to  his 
wife  that  the  presence  of  Nora  Black  in  the  party,  in 
the  inn,  in  the  world,  was  a  thing  that  did  not  meet 
his  approval  in  any  way.  She  should  be  abolished. 
As  for  Coleman,  he  would  not  defend  him.  He  pre 
ferred  not  to  talk  to  him.  It  made  him  sad.  Cole 
man  at  least  had  been  very  indiscreet,  very  indiscreet. 
It  was  a  great  pity.  But  as  for  this  blatant  woman, 
the  sooner  they  rid  themselves  of  her,  the  sooner  he 
would  feel  that  all  the  world  was  not  evil. 

Whereupon  Mrs.  Wainwright  had  changed  front 
with  the  speed  of  light  and  attacked  with  horse,  foot 
and  guns.  She  failed  to  see,  she  had  declared,  where 
this  poor,  lone  girl  was  in  great  fault.  Of  course  it 
was  probable  that  she  had  listened  to  this  snaky- 
tongued  Rufus  Coleman,  but  that  was  ever  the  mis 
take  that  women  made.  Oh,  certainly  ;  the  professor 
would  like  to  let  Rufus  Coleman  off  scot-free.  That 
was  the  way  with  men.  They  defended  each  other  in 
all  cases.  If  wrong  were  done  it  was  the  woman  who 
suffered.  Now,  since  this  poor  girl  was  alone  far  off 
here  in  Greece,  Mrs.  Wainwright  announced  that  she 
had  such  full  sense  of  her  duty  to  her  sex  that  her 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  259 

conscience  would  not  allow  her  to  scorn  and  desert  a 
sister,  even  if  that  sister  was,  approximately,  the  vic 
tim  of  a  creature  like  Rufus  Coleman.  Perhaps  the 
poor  thing  loved  this  wretched  man,  although  it  was 
hard  to  imagine  any  woman  giving  her  heart  to  such 
a  monster. 

The  professor  had  then  asked  with  considerable 
spirit  for  the  proofs  upon  which  Mrs.  Wainwright 
named  Coleman  a  monster,  and  had  made  a  wry  face 
over  her  completely  conventional  reply.  He  had  told 
her  categorically  his  opinion  of  her  erudition  in  such 
matters. 

But  Mrs.  Wainwright  was  not  to  be  deterred  from 
an  exciting  espousal  of  the  cause  of  her  sex.  Upon 
the  instant  that  the  professor  strenuously  opposed  her 
she  became  an  apostle,  an  enlightened,  uplifted  apos 
tle  to  the  world  on  the  wrongs  of  her  sex.  She  had 
come  down  with  this  thing  as  if  it  were  a  disease. 
Nothing  could  stop  her.  Her  husband,  her  daughter, 
all  influences  in  other  directions,  had  been  overturned 
with  a  roar,  and  the  first  thing  fully  clear  to  the  pro 
fessor's  mind  had  been  that  his  wife  was  riding  affably 
in  the  carriage  with  Nora  Black. 

Coleman  aroused  when  he  heard  one  of  the  students 
cry  out :  "  Why,  there  is  Rufus  Coleman's  dragoman. 
He  must  be  here."  A  moment  later  they  thronged 
upon  him.  "  Hi,  old  man,  caught  you  again  !  Where 


260  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

did  you  break  to?  Glad  to  catch  you,  old  boy.  How 
are  you  making  it  ?  Where's  your  horse  ?  " 

"  Sent  the  horses  on  to  Athens,"  said  Coleman. 
He  had  not  yet  recovered  his  composure,  and  he  was 
glad  to  find  available  this  commonplace  return  to  their 
exuberant  greetings  and  questions.  "  Sent  'em  on  to 
Athens  with  the  groom." 

In  the  meantime  the  engine  of  the  little  train  was 
screaming  to  heaven  that  its  intention  of  starting  was 
most  serious.  The  diligencia  careered  to  the  station 
platform  and  unburdened.  Coleman  had  had  his 
dragoman  place  his  luggage  in  a  little  first-class  car 
riage  and  he  defiantly  entered  it  and  closed  the  door. 
He  had  a  sudden  return  to  the  old  sense  of  downfall, 
and  with  it  came  the  original  rebellious  desires.  How 
ever,  he  hoped  that  somebody  would  intrude  upon 
him. 

It  was  Peter  Tounley.  The  student  flung  open  the 
door  and  then  yelled  to  the  distance  :  "  Here's  an 
empty  one."  He  clattered  into  the  compartment. 
"  Hello,  Coleman  !  Didn't  know  you  were  in  here  !  " 
At  his  heels  came  Nora  Black,  Coke  and  Marjory. 

"  Oh  !  "  they  said,  when  they  saw  the  occupant  of  the 
carriage.  "  Oh  !  "  Coleman  was  furious.  He  could 
have  distributed  some  of  his  traps  in  a  way  to  create, 
more  room,  but  he  did  not  rnovq. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THERE  was  a  demonstration  of  the  unequalled  facil 
ities  of  a  European  railway  carriage  for  rendering 
unpleasant  things  almost  intolerable.  These  people 
could  find  no  way  to  alleviate  the  poignancy  of  their 
position.  Coleman  did  not  know  where  to  look. 
Every  personal  mannerism  becomes  accentuated  in  a 
European  railway  carriage.  If  you  glance  at  a  man, 
your  glance  defines  itself  as  a  stare.  If  you  carefully 
look  at  nothing,  you  create  for  yourself  a  resemblance 
to  all  wooden-headed  things.  A  newspaper  is,  then,  in 
the  nature  of  a  preservative,  and  Coleman  longed  for 
a  newspaper. 

It  was  this  abominable  railway  carriage  which 
exacted  the  first  display  of  agitation  from  Marjory. 
She  flushed  rosily,  and  her  eyes  wavered  over  the 
compartment.  Nora  Black  laughed  in  a  way  that 
was  a  shock  to  the  nerves.  Coke  seemed  very  angry, 
indeed,  and  Peter  Tounley  was  in  pitiful  distress. 
Everything  was  acutely,  painfully  vivid,  bald,  painted 
as  glaringly  as  a  grocer's  new  wagon.  It  fulfilled 
those  traditions  which  the  artists  deplore  when  they 
use  their  pet  phrase  on  a  picture,  "  It  hurts."  The 
damnable  power  of  accentuation  of  the  European 


262  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

railway  carriage  seemed,  to  Coleman's  amazed  mind, 
to  be  redoubled  and  redoubled. 

It  was  Peter  Tounley  who  seemed  to  be  in  the  great 
est  agony.  He  looked  at  the  correspondent  beseech 
ingly  and  said  :  "  It's  a  very  cold  morning,  Coleman." 
This  was  an  actual  appeal  in  the  name  of  humanity. 

Coleman  came  squarely  to  the  front  and  even 
grinned  a  little  at  poor  Peter  Tounley's  misery. 
"  Yes,  it  is  a  cold  morning,  Peter.  I  should  say  it  is 
one  of  the  coldest  mornings  in  my  recollection." 

Peter  Tounley  had  not  intended  a  typical  Ameri 
can  emphasis  on  the  polar  conditions  which  obtained 
in  the  compartment  at  this  time,  but  Coleman  had 
given  the  word  this  meaning.  Spontaneously  every 
body  smiled,  and  at  once  the  tension  was  relieved. 
But  of  course  the  satanic  powers  of  the  railway  car 
riage  could  not  be  altogether  set  at  naught.  Of  course 
it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Coke  to  get  the  seat  directly  in 
front  of  Coleman,  and  thus,  face  to  face,  they  were 
doomed  to  stare  at  each  other. 

Peter  Tounley  was  inspired  to  begin  conventional 
babble,  in  which  he  took  great  care  to  make  an  appear 
ance  of  talking  to  all  in  the  carriage.  "  Funny  thing. 
I  never  knew  these  mornings  in  Greece  were  so  cold. 
I  thought  the  climate  here  was  quite  tropical.  It 
must  have  been  inconvenient  in  the  ancient  times, 
when,  I  am  told,  people  didn't  wear  near  so  many — 
er — clothes.  Really,  I  don't  see  how  they  stood  it. 


ACTIVE  si:  K  VICE.  263 

For  my  part,  I  would  like  nothing  so  much  as  a  buffalo 
robe.  I  suppose  when  those  great  sculptors  were  do 
ing  their  masterpieces,  they  had  to  wear  gloves. 
Ever  think  of  that  ?  Funny,  isn't  it  ?  Aren't  you 
cold,  Marjory?  I  am.  Jingo!  Imagine  the  Spar 
tans  in  ulsters,  going  out  to  meet  an  enemy  in  cape- 
overcoats,  and  being  desired  by  their  mothers  to  re 
turn  with  their  ulsters  or  wrapped  in  them." 

It  was  rather  hard  work  for  Peter  Tounley.  Both 
Marjory  and  Coleman  tried  to  display  an  interest  in 
his  labours,  and  they  laughed  not  at  what  he  said,  but 
because  they  believed  it  assisted  him.  The  little  train, 
meanwhile,  wandered  up  a  great  green  slope,  and  the 
day  rapidly  coloured  the  land. 

At  first  Nora  Black  did  not  display  a'militant  mood, 
but  as  time  passed  Coleman  saw  clearly  that  she  was 
considering  the  advisability  of  a  new  attack.  She  had 
Coleman  and  Marjory  in  conjunction  and  where  they 
were  unable  to  escape  from  her.  The  opportunities 
were  great.  To  Coleman,  she  seemed  to  be  gloating 
over  the  possibilities  of  making  more  mischief.  She 
was  looking  at  him  speculatively,  as  if  considering  the 
best  place  to  hit  him  first.  Presently  she  drawled  : 
"  Rufus,  I  wish  you  would  fix  my  rug  about  me  a  lit 
tle  better."  Coleman  saw  that  this  was  a  beginning. 

Peter  Tounley  sprang  to  his  feet  with  speed  and  en 
thusiasm.  "  Oh,  let  me  do  it  for  you."  He  had  her 
well  muffled  in  the  rug  before  she  could  protest,  even 


264  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

if  a  protest  had  been  rational.  The  young  man  had 
no  idea  of  defending  Coleman.  He  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  necessity  for  it.  It  had  been  merely  the  exer 
cise  of  his  habit  of  amiability,  his  chronic  desire  to 
see  everybody  comfortable.  His  passion  in  this  di 
rection  was  well  known  in  Washurst,  where  the  students 
had  borrowed  a  phrase  from  the  photographers  in  or 
der  to  describe  him  fully  in  a  nickname.  They  called 
him  "  Look-pleasant  Tounley."  This  did  not  in  any 
way  antagonise  his  perfect  willingness  to  fight  on 
occasions  with  a  singular  desperation,  which  usually 
has  a  small  stool  in  every  mind  where  good  nature  has 
a  throne. 

"  Oh,  thank  you  very  much,  Mr.  Tounley,"  said 
Nora  Black,  without  gratitude.  "  Rufus  is  always  so 
lax  in  these  matters." 

"  I  don't  know  how  you  know  it,"  said  Coleman 
boldly,  and  he  looked  her  fearlessly  in  the  eye.  The 
battle  had  begun. 

"  Oh,"  responded  Nora,  airily,  "  I  have  had  oppor 
tunity  enough  to  know  it,  I  should  think,  by  this 
time." 

"  No,"  said  Coleman,  "  since  I  have  never  paid  you 
particular  and  direct  attention,  you  cannot  possibly 
know  what  I  am  lax  in  and  what  I  am  not  lax  in.  I 
would  be  obliged  to  be  of  service  at  any  time,  Nora, 
but  surely  you  do  not  consider  that  you  have  a  right 
to  my  services  superior  to  any  other  right," 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  265 

Nora  Black  simply  went  mad,  but  fortunately  part 
of  her  madness  was  in  the  form  of  speechlessness. 
Otherwise  there  might  have  been  heard  something  ap 
proaching  to  billingsgate. 

Marjory  and  Peter  Tounley  turned  first  hot  and  then 
cold,  and  looked  as  if  they  wanted  to  fly  away ;  and 
even  Coke,  penned  helplessly  in  with  this  unpleasant 
incident,  seemed  to  have  a  sudden  attack  of  distress. 
The  only  frigid  person  was  Coleman.  He  had  made 
his  declaration  of  independence,  and  he  saw  with  glee 
that  the  victory  was  complete.  Nora  Black  might 
storm  and  rage,  but  he  had  announced  his  position  in 
an  unconventional  blunt  way  which  nobody  in  the 
carriage  could  fail  to  understand.  He  felt  somewhat 
like  smiling  with  confidence  and  defiance  in  Nora's 
face,  but  he  still  had  the  fear  for  Marjory. 

Unexpectedly,  the  fight  was  all  out  of  Nora  Black. 
She  had  the  fury  of  a  woman  scorned,  but  evidently 
she  had  perceived  that  all  was  over  and  lost.  The 
remainder  of  her  wrath  dispensed  itself  in  glares  which 
Coleman  withstood  with  great  composure. 

A  strained  silence  fell  upon  the  group  which  lasted 
until  they  arrived  at  the  little  port  of  Mesalonghi, 
whence  they  were  to  take  ship  for  Patras.  Coleman 
found  himself  wondering  why  he  had  not  gone  flatly 
at  the  great  question  at  a  much  earlier  period,  indeed 
at  the  first  moment  when  the  great  question  began  to 
make  life  exciting  for  him.  He  thought  that  if  he 


266  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

had  charged  Nora's  guns  in  the  beginning  they  would 
have  turned  out  to  be  the  same  incapable  artillery. 
Instead  of  that  he  had  run  away  and  continued  to  run 
away  until  he  was  actually  cornered  and  made  to  fight, 
and  his  easy  victory  had  defined  him  as  a  person 
who  had,  earlier,  indulged  in  much  stupidity  and 
cowardice. 

Everything  had  worked  out  so  simply,  his  terrors 
had  been  dispelled  so  easily,  that  he  probably  was  led 
to  overestimate  his  success.  And  it  occurred  suddenly 
to  him.  He  foresaw  a  fine  occasion  to  talk  privately 
to  Marjory  when  all  had  boarded  the  steamer  for 
Patras  and  he  resolved  to  make  use  of  it.  This  he 
believed  would  end  the  strife  and  conclusively  laurel 
him. 

The  train  finally  drew  up  on  a  little  stone  pier  and 
some  boatmen  began  to  scream  like  gulls.  The 
steamer  lay  at  anchor  in  the  placid  blue  cove.  The 
embarkation  was  chaotic  in  the  Oriental  fashion  and 
there  was  the  customary  misery  which  was  only  re 
lieved  when  the  travellers  had  set  foot  on  the  deck  of 
the  steamer.  Coleman  did  not  devote  any  premature 
attention  to  finding  Marjory,  but  when  the  steamer 
was  fairly  out  on  the  calm  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Cor 
inth,  he  saw  her  pacing  to  and  fro  with  Peter  Tounley. 
At  first  he  lurked  in  the  distance  waiting  for  an  op 
portunity,  but  ultimately  he  decided  to  make  his  own 
opportunity.  He  approached  them.  "  Marjory,  would 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  267 

you  let  me  speak  to  you  alone  for  a  few  moments  ? 
You  won't  mind,  will  you,  Peter?" 

"  Oh,  no,  certainly  not,"  said  Peter  Tounley. 

"  Of  course.  It  is  not  some  dreadful  revelation,  is 
it?  "  said  Marjory,  bantering  him  coolly. 

"  No,"  answered  Coleman,  abstractedly.  He  was 
thinking  of  what  he  was  going  to  say.  Peter  Tounley 
vanished  around  the  corner  of  a  deck-house  and  Mar 
jory  and  Coleman  began  to  pace  to  and  fro  even  as 
Marjory  and  Peter  Tounley  had  done.  Coleman  had 
thought  to  speak  his  mind  frankly  and  once  for  all,  and 
on  the  train  he  had  invented  many  clear  expressions 
of  his  feeling.  It  did  not  appear  that  he  had  forgotten 
them.  It  seemed,  more,  that  they  had  become  en 
tangled  in  his  mind  in  such  a  way  that  he  could  not 
unravel  the  end  of  his  discourse. 

In  the  pause,  Marjory  began  to  speak  in  admiration 
of  the  scenery.  "  I  never  imagined  that  Greece  was  so 
full  of  mountains.  One  reads  so  much  of  the  Attic 
Plains,  but  aren't  these  mountains  royal?  They  look 
so  rugged  and  cold,  whereas  the  bay  is  absolutely  as 
blue  as  the  old  descriptions  of  a  summer  sea." 

"  I  wanted  to  speak  to  you  about  Nora  Black,"  said 
Coleman. 

"  Nora  Black  ?  Why  ?  "  said  Marjory,  lifting  her  eye 
brows. 

"  You  know  well  enough,"  said  Coleman,  in  a  head 
long  fashion.  "  You  must  know,  you  must  have  seen 


268  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

it.  She  knows  I  care  for  you  and  she  wants  to  stop  it. 
And  she  has  no  right  to — to  interfere.  She  is  a  fiend, 
a  perfect  fiend.  She  is  trying  to  make  you  feel  that  I 
care  for  her." 

"And  don't  you  care  for  her  ?  "  asked  Marjory. 

"  No,"  said  Coleman,  vehemently.  "  I  don't  care 
for  her  at  all." 

"  Very  well,"  answered  Marjory,  simply.  "  I  believe 
you."  She  managed  to  give  the  words  the  effect  of  a 
mere  announcement  that  she  believed  him  and  it  was 
in  no  way  plain  that  she  was  glad  or  that  she  esteemed 
the  matter  as  being  of  consequence. 

He  scowled  at  her  in  dark  resentment.  "  You  mean 
by  that,  I  suppose,  that  you  don't  believe  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  answered  Marjory,  wearily,  "  I  believe  you. 
I  said  so.  Don't  talk  about  it  any  more." 

"  Then,"  said  Coleman,  slowly,  "  you  mean  that  you 
do  not  care  whether  I'm  telling  the  truth  or  not?" 

"  Why,  of  course  I  care,"  she  said.  "  Lying  is  not 
nice." 

He  did  not  know,  apparently,  exactly  how  to  deal 
with  her  manner,  which  was  actually  so  pliable  that  it 
was  marble,  if  one  may  speak  in  that  way.  He  looked 
ruefully  at  the  sea.  He  had  expected  a  far  easier 
time.  "  Well—"  he  began. 

"  Really,"  interrupted  Marjory,  "  this  is  something 
which  I  do  not  care  to  discuss.  I  would  rather  you 
would  not  speak  to  me  at  all  about  it.  It  seems  too 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  269 

—too — bad.  I  can  readily  give  you  my  word  that  I 
believe  you,  but  I  would  prefer  you  not  to  try  to  talk 
to  me  about  it  or — anything  of  that  sort.  Mother  !  " 

Mrs.  Wainwright  was  hovering  anxiously  in  the 
vicinity,  and  she  now  bore  down  rapidly  upon  the 
pair.  "  You  are  very  nearly  to  Patras,"  she  said  re 
proachfully  to  her  daughter,  as  if  the  fact  had  some 
fault  of  Marjory's  concealed  in  it.  She  in  no  way  ac 
knowledged  the  presence  of  Coleman. 

"  Oh,  are  we  ?  "  cried  Marjory. 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright.     "  We  are." 

She  stood  waiting  as  if  she  expected  Marjory  to  in 
stantly  quit  Coleman.  The  girl  wavered  a  moment 
and  then  followed  her  mother.  "  Good-bye,"  she  said. 
"  I  hope  we  may  see  you  again  in  Athens."  It  was  a 
command  to  him  to  travel  alone  with  his  servant  on 
the  long  railway  journey  from  Patras  to  Athens.  It 
was  a  dismissal  of  a  casual  acquaintance  given  so 
graciously  that  it  stung  him  to  the  depths  of  his  pride. 
He  bowed  his  adieu  and  his  thanks.  When  the  yell 
ing  boatmen  came  again,  he  and  his  man  proceeded 
to  the  shore  in  an  early  boat  without  looking  in  any 
way  after  the  welfare  of  the  others. 

At  the  train,  the  party  split  into  three  sections. 
Coleman  and  his  man  had  one  compartment,  Nora 
Black  and  her  squad  had  another,  and  the  Wain- 
wrights  and  students  occupied  two  more. 

The   little   officer  was  still  in  tow  of   Nora   Black. 


2/o  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

He  was  very  enthusiastic.  In  French  she  directed 
him  to  remain  silent,  but  he  did  not  appear  to  under 
stand.  "  You  tell  him,"  she  then  said  to  her  drago 
man,  "  to  sit  in  a  corner  and  not  to  speak  until  I  tell 
him  to,  or  I  won't  have  him  in  here."  She  seemed 
anxious  to  unburden  herself  to  the  old  lady  com 
panion.  "  Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "  that  girl  has  a 
nerve  like  steel.  I  tried  to  break  it  there  in  that  inn, 
but  I  couldn't  budge  her.  If  I  am  going  to  have  her 
beaten  I  must  prove  myself  to  be  a  very,  very  artful 
person." 

"  Why  did  you  try  to  break  her  nerve  ?  "  asked  the 
old  lady,  yawning.  "  Why  do  you  want  to  have  her 
beaten  ?  " 

"  Because  I  do,  old  stupid,"  answered  Nora.  "  You 
should  have  heard  the  things  I  said  to  her." 

"About  what?" 

"  About  Coleman.  Can't  you  understand  anything 
at  all?" 

"  And  why  should  you  say  anything  about  Coleman 
to  her?"  queried  the  old  lady,  still  hopelessly  be 
fogged. 

"  Because,"  cried  Nora,  darting  a  look  of  wrath  at 
her  companion,  "  I  want  to  prevent  that  marriage." 
She  had  been  betrayed  into  this  avowal  by  the  singu 
larly  opaque  mind  of  the  old  lady.  The  latter  at  once 
sat  erect.  "  Oh,  ho,"  she  said,  as  if  a  ray  of  light  had 
been  let  into  her  head.  "  Oh,  ho.  So  that's  it,  is  it  ?" 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  271 

"  Yes,  that's  it,"  rejoined  Nora,  shortly. 

The  old  lady  was  amazed  into  a  long  period  of 
meditation.  At  last  she  spoke  depressingly.  "  Well, 
how  are  you  going  to  prevent  it?  Those  things  can't 
be  done  in  these  days  at  all.  If  they  care  for  each 
other " 

Nora  burst  out  furiously.  "  Don't  venture  opinions 
until  you  know  what  you  are  talking  about,  please. 
They  don't  care  for  each  other,  do  you  see  ?  She 
cares  for  him,  but  he  don't  give  a  snap  of  his  fingers 
for  her." 

"  But,"  cried  the  bewildered  lady,  "  if  he  don't  care 
for  her,  there  will  be  nothing  to  prevent.  If  he  don't 
care  for  her,  he  won't  ask  her  to  marry  him,  and  so 
there  won't  be  anything  to  prevent." 

Nora  made  a  broad  gesture  of  impatience.  "  Oh, 
can't  you  get  anything  through  your  head  ?  Haven't 
you  seen  that  the  girl  has  been  the  only  young 
woman  in  that  whole  party  lost  up  there  in  the  moun 
tains,  and  that  naturally  more  than  half  of  the  men 
still  think  they  are  in  love  with  her?  That's  what  it 
is.  Can't  you  see  ?  It  always  happens  that  way, 
Then  Coleman  comes  along  and  makes  a  fool  of  him 
self  with  the  others." 

The  old  lady  spoke  up  brightly  as  if  at  last  feeling 
able  to  contribute  something  intelligent  to  the  talk. 
"  Oh,  then,  he  does  care  for  her." 

Nora's  eyes  looked  as  if  their  glance  might  shrivel 


272  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  old  lady's  hair.  "  Don't  I  keep  telling  you  that 
it  is  no  such  thing  ?  Can't  you  understand  ?  It  is 
all  glamour !  Fascination !  'Way  up  there  in  the 
wilderness  !  Only  one  even  passable  woman  in  sight." 

"  I  don't  say  that  I  am  so  very  keen,"  said  the  old 
lady,  somewhat  offended,  "  but  I  fail  to  see  where  I 
could  improve  when  first  you  tell  me  he  don't  [care 
for  her,  and  then  you  tell  me  that  he  does  care  for 
her." 

"  *  Glamour/  '  Fascination,' "  quoted  Nora.  "  Don't 
you  understand  the  meaning  of  the  words?" 

"  Well,"  asked  the  other,  "  didn't  he  know  her,  then, 
before  he  came  over  here  ?  " 

Nora  was  silent  for  a  time,  while  a  gloom  upon  her 
face  deepened.  It  had  struck  her  that  the  theories 
for  which  she  protested  so  energetically  might  not  be 
of  such  great  value.  Spoken  aloud,  they  had  a  sudden 
new  flimsiness.  Perhaps  she  had  reiterated  to  herself 
that  Coleman  was  the  victim  of  glamour  only  because 
she  wished  it  to  be  true.  One  theory,  however,  re 
mained  unshaken.  Marjory  was  an  artful  minx,  with 
no  truth  in  her. 

She  presently  felt  the  necessity  of  replying  to  the 
question  of  her  companion.  "  Oh,"  she  said,  care 
lessly,  "  I  suppose  they  were  acquainted— in  a  way." 

The  old  lady  was  giving  the  best  of  her  mind  to 
the  subject.  "If  that's  the  case — "she  observed, 
musingly,  "  if  that's  the  case,  you  can't  tell  what  is 
between  'em." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  273 

The  talk  had  so  slackened  that  Nora's  unfortunate 
Greek  admirer  felt  that  here  was  a  good  opportunity 
to  present  himself  again  to  the  notice  of  the  actress. 
The  means  was  a  smile  and  a  French  sentence,  but 
his  reception  would  have  frightened  a  man  in  armour. 
His  face  blanched  with  horror  at  the  storm  he  had 
invoked,  and  he  dropped  limply  back  as  if  some  one 
had  shot  him.  "  You  tell  this  little  snipe  to  let  me 
alone  !  "  cried  Nora,  to  the  dragoman.  "  If  he  dares 
to  come  around  me  with  any  more  of  those  Parisian 
dude  speeches,  I — I  don't  know  what  I'll  do !  I 
won't  have  it,  I  say."  The  impression  upon  the 
dragoman  was  hardly  less  in  effect.  He  looked  with 
bulging  eyes  at  Nora,  and  then  began  to  stammer  at 
the  officer.  The  latter's  voice  could  sometimes  be 
heard  in  awed  whispers  for  the  more  elaborate  expla 
nation  of  some  detail  of  the  tragedy.  Afterward,  he 
remained  meek  and  silent  in  his  corner,  barely  more 
than  a  shadow,  like  the  proverbial  husband  of  impe 
rious  beauty. 

"  Well,"  said  the  old  lady,  after  a  long  and  thought 
ful  pause,  "  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  if  Rufus  Coleman  really  cares  for  that  girl,  there 
isn't  much  use  in  trying  to  stop  him  from  getting  her. 
He  isn't  that  kind  of  a  man." 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  will  you  stop  assuming  that  he 
does  care  for  her  ?  "  demanded  Nora,  breathlessly. 

"And  I  don't  see,"  continued  the  old  lady,  "  what 
you  want  to  prevent  him  for,  anyhow." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  I  FEEL  in  this  radiant  atmosphere  that  there  could 
be  no  such  thing  as  war — men  striving  together  in 
black  and  passionate  hatred."  The  professor's  words 
were  for  the  benefit  of  his  wife  and  daughter.  He 
was  viewing  the  sky-blue  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth 
with  its  background  of  mountains  that  in  the  sunshine 
were  touched  here  and  there  with  a  copperish  glare. 
The  train  was  slowly  sweeping  along  the  southern 
shore.  "  It  is  strange  to  think  of  those  men  fighting 
up  there  in  the  north.  And  it  is  strange  to  think 
that  we  ourselves  are  but  just  returning  from  it.'* 

"  I  cannot  begin  to  realise  it  yet,"  said  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright,  in  a  high  voice. 

"  Quite  so,"  responded  the  professor,  reflectively. 
"  I  do  not  suppose  any  of  us  will  realise  it  fully 
for  some  time.  It  is  altogether  too  odd,  too  very 
odd." 

"  To  think  of  it !  "  cried  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "  To 
think  of  it !  Supposing  those  dreadful  Albanians  or 
those  awful  men  'from  the  Greek  mountains  had 
caught  us !  Why,  years  from  now  I'll  wake  up  in  the 
night  and  think  of  it !  " 

The  professor  mused.      "  Strange  that  we  cannot 


'ACTIVE  SERVICE.  275 

feel  it  strongly  now.  My  logic  tells  me  to  be  aghast 
that  we  ever  got  into  such  a  place,  but  my  nerves  at 
present  refuse  to  thrill.  I  am  very  much  afraid  that 
this  singular  apathy  of  ours  has  led  us  to  be  unjust  to 
poor  Coleman." 

Here  Mrs.  Wainwright  objected.  "  '  Poor  Cole- 
man!'  I  don't  see  why  you  call  him  'poor  Cole- 
man.'  " 

"  Well,"  answered  the  professor,  slowly,  "  I  am  in 
doubt  about  our  behaviour.  It " 

"  Oh,"  cried  the  wife,  gleefully,  "  in  doubt  about 
our  behaviour!  I'm  in  doubt  about  his  behaviour." 

"  So,  then,  you  do  have  a  doubt  of  his  behaviour  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  responded  Mrs.  Wainwright,  hastily, 
"  not  about  its  badness.  What  I  meant  to  say  was 
that  in  the  face  of  his  outrageous  conduct  with  that— 
that  woman,  it  is  curious  that  you  should  worry 
about  our  behaviour.  It  surprises  me,  Harrison." 

The  professor  was  wagging  his  head  sadly.  "  I 
don't  know  *  *  I  don't  know  *  *  It  seems  hard  to 
judge  *  *  I  hesitate  to— 

Mrs.  Wainwright  treated  this  attitude  with  disdain. 
"  It  is  not  hard  to  judge,"  she  scoffed,  "  and  I  fail  to 
see  why  you  have  any  reason  for  hesitation  at  all. 
Here  he  brings  this  woman 

The  professor  got  angry.  "  Nonsense  !  Nonsense  ! 
I  do  not  believe  that  he  brought  her.  If  I  ever  saw  a 
spectacle  of  a  woman  bringing  herself,  it  was  then. 


276  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

You  keep  chanting  that  thing  like  an  outright 
parrot." 

"  Well,"  retorted  Mrs.  Wainwright,  bridling,  "  I 
suppose  you  imagine  that  you  understand  such 
things.  Men  usually  think  that,  but  I  want  to  tell 
you  that  you  seem  to  me  utterly  blind." 

"  Blind  or  not,  do  stop  the  everlasting  reiteration  of 
that  sentence." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  passed  into  an  offended  silence, 
and  the  professor,  also  silent,  looked  with  a  gradually 
dwindling  indignation  at  the  scenery. 

Night  was  suggested  in  the  sky  before  the  train 
was  near  to  Athens.  "  My  trunks,"  sighed  Mrs. 
Wainwright.  "  How  glad  I  will  be  to  get  back  to  my 
trunks!  Oh,  the  dust!  Oh,  the  misery!  Do  find 
out  when  we  will  get  there,  Harrison.  Maybe  the 
train  is  late." 

But,  at  last,  they  arrived  in  Athens,  amid  a  darkness 
which  was  confusing,  and,  after  no  more  than  the 
common  amount  of  trouble,  they  procured  carnages 
and  were  taken  to  the  hotel.  Mrs.  Wainwright's 
impulses  now  dominated  the  others  in  the  family. 
She  had  one  passion  after  another.  The  majority  of 
the  servants  in  the  hotel  pretended  that  they  spoke 
English,  but,  in  three  minutes,  she  drove  them  dis 
tracted  with  the  abundance  and  violence  of  her  re 
quests.  It  came  to  pass  that  in  the  excitement  the 
old  couple  quite  forgot  Marjory.  It  was  not  until 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  277 

Mrs.  Wainwright,  then  feeling  splendidly,  was  dressed 
for  dinner,  that  she  thought  to  open  Marjory's  door 
and  go  to  render  a  usual  motherly  supervision  of  the 
girl's  toilet. 

There  was  no  light :  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any 
body  in  the  room.  "  Marjory  !  "  called  the  mother,  in 
alarm.  She  listened  for  a  moment  and  then  ran 
hastily  out  again.  "  Harrison  !  "  she  cried.  "  I  can't 
find  Marjory ! "  The  professor  had  been  tying  his 
cravat.  He  let  the  loose  ends  fly.  "  What  ? "  he 
ejaculated,  opening  his  mouth  wide.  Then  they  both 
rushed  into  Marjory's  room.  "  Marjory  !  "  beseeched 
the  old  man  in  a  voice  which  would  have  invoked  the 
grave. 

The  answer  was  from  the  bed.  "  Yes  ? "  It  was 
low,  weary,  tearful.  It  was  not  like  Marjory.  It  was 
dangerously  the  voice  of  a  heart-broken  woman. 
They  hurried  forward  with  outcries.  "  Why,  Marjory  ! 
Are  you  ill,  child  ?  How  long  have  you  been  lying  in 
the  dark?  Why  didn't  you  call  us  ?  Are  you  ill  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  this  changed  voice,  "  I  am  not  ill. 
I  only  thought  I'd  rest  for  a  time.  Don't  bother." 

The  professor  hastily  lit  the  gas  and  then  father 
and  mother  turned  hurriedly  to  the  bed.  In  the  first 
of  the  illumination  they  saw  that  tears  were  flowing 
unchecked  down  Marjory's  face. 

The  effect  of  this  grief  upon  the  professor  was,  in 
part,  an  effect  of  fear.  He  seemed  afraid  to  touch  it, 


2;8  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

to  go  near  it.  He  could,  evidently,  only  remain  in 
the  outskirts,  a  horrified  spectator.  The  mother,  how 
ever,  flung  her  arms  about  her  daughter.  "  Oh,  Mar 
jory  !  "  She,  too,  was  weeping. 

The  girl  turned  her  face  to  the  pillow  and  held  out 
a  hand  of  protest.  "  Don't,  mother !  Don't !  " 

"  Oh,  Marjory  !     Oh,  Marjory  !  " 

"  Don't,  mother.  Please  go  away.  Please  go 
away.  Don't  speak  at  all,  I  beg  of  you." 

"  Oh,  Marjory  !     Oh,  Marjory  !  " 

"  Don't."  The  girl  lifted  a  face  which  appalled 
them.  It  had  something  entirely  new  in  it.  "  Please 
go  away,  mother.  I  will  speak  to  father,  but  I  won't 
— I  can't — I  can't  be  pitied." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  looked  at  her  husband.  "Yes," 
said  the  old  man,  trembling.  "  Go  !  "  She  threw  up 
her  hands  in  a  sorrowing  gesture  that  was  not  without 
its  suggestion  that  her  exclusion  would  be  a  mistake. 
She  left  the  room. 

The  professor  dropped  on  his  knees  at  the  bedside 
and  took  one  of  Marjory's  hands.  His  voice  dropped 
to  its  tenderest  note.  "  Well,  my  Marjory  ?" 

She  had  turned  her  face  again  to  the  pillow.  At 
last  she  answered  .in  muffled  tones,  "You  know." 

Thereafter  came  a  long  silence  full  of  sharpened 
pain.  It  was  Marjory  who  spoke  first.  "  I  have 
saved  my  pride,  daddy,  but — I  have — lost — everything 
— else."  Even  her  sudden  resumption  of  the  old  epi- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  279 

thct  of  her  childhood  was  an  additional  misery  to  the 
old  man.  He  still  said  no  word.  He  knelt,  gripping 
her  fingers  and  staring  at  the  wall. 

"Yes,  I  have  lost — everything — else." 

The  father  gave  a  low  groan.  He  was  thinking 
deeply,  bitterly.  Since  one  was  only  a  human  being, 
how  was  one  going  to  protect  beloved  hearts  assailed 
with  sinister  fury  from  the  inexplicable  zenith?  In 
this  tragedy  he  felt  as  helpless  as  an  old  grey  ape. 
He  did  not  see  a  possible  weapon  with  which  he  could 
defend  his  child  from  the  calamity  which  was  upon 
her.  There  was  no  wall,  no  shield  which  could  turn 
this  sorrow  from  the  heart  of  his  child.  If  one  of  his 
hands'  loss  could  have  spared  her,  there  would  have 
been  a  sacrifice  of  his  hand,  but  he  was  potent  for 
nothing.  He  could  only  groan  and  stare  at  the  wall. 

He  reviewed  the  past  half  in  fear  that  he  would  sud 
denly  come  upon  his  error  which  was  now  the  cause 
of  Marjory's  tears.  He  dwelt  long  upon  the  fact  that 
in  Washurst  he  had  refused  his  consent  to  Marjory's 
marriage  with  Coleman,  but  even  now  he  could  not 
say  that  his  judgment  was  not  correct.  It  was  sim 
ply  that  the  doom  of  woman's  woe  was  upon  Marjory, 
this  ancient  woe  of  the  silent  tongue  and  the  governed 
will,  and  he  could  only  kneel  at  the  bedside  and  stare 
at  the  wall. 

Marjory  raised  her  voice  in  a  laugh.  "  Did  I  betray 
myself?  Did  I  become  the  maiden  all  forlorn?  Did 


280  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

I  giggle  to  show  people  that  I  did  not  care  ?  No — I 
did  not — I  did  not.  And  it  was  such  a  long  time, 
daddy  !  Oh,  such  a  long  time  !  I  thought  we  would 
never  get  here.  I  thought  I  would  never  get  where  I 
could  be  alone  like  this,  where  I  could — cry — if  I 
wanted  to.  I  am  not  much  of  a  crier,  am  I,  daddy  ? 
But  this  time — this  time " 

She  suddenly  drew  herself  over  near  to  her  father 
and  looked  at  him.  "  Oh,  daddy,  I  want  to  tell  you 
one  thing.  Just  one  simple  little  thing."  She  waited 
then,  and  while  she  waited  her  father's  head  went 
lower  and  lower.  "  Of  course,  you  know — I  told  you 
once.  I  love  him  !  I  love  him  !  Yes,  probably  he  is 
a  rascal,  but,  do  you  know,  I  don't  think  I  would 
mind  if  he  was  a — an  assassin..  This  morning  I  sent 
him  away,  but,  daddy,  he  didn't  want  to  go  at  all. 
I  know  he  didn't.  This  Nora  Black  is  nothing  to  him. 
I  know  she  is  not.  I  am  sure  of  it.  Yes — I  am  sure 
of  it.  *  *  *  I  never  expected  to  talk  this  way  to  any 
living  creature,  but — you  are  so  good,  daddy.  *  *  * 
Dear  old  daddy " 

She  ceased,  for  she  saw  that  her  father  was  praying. 

The  sight  brought  to  her  a  new  outburst  of  sobbing, 
for  her  sorrow  now  had  dignity  and  solemnity  from 
the  bowed  white  head  of  her  old  father,  and  she  felt 
that  her  heart  was  dying  amid  the  pomp  of  the  church. 
It  was  the  last  rites  being  performed  at  the  death-bed. 
Into  her  ears  came  some  imagining  of  the  low  melan 
choly  chant  of  monks  in  a  gloom. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  281 

Finally  her  father  arose.  He  kissed  her  on  the 
brow.  "  Try  to  sleep,  dear,"  he  said.  He  turned  out 
the  gas  and  left  the  room.  His  thought  was  full  of 
chastened  emotion. 

But  if  his  thought  was  full  of  chastened  emotion,  it 
received  some  degree  of  shock  when  he  arrived  in  the 
presence  of  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "  Well,  what  is  all  this 
about  ?  "  she  demanded,  irascibly.  "  Do  you  mean  to 
say  that  Marjory  is  breaking  her  heart  over  that  man 
Coleman  ?  It  is  all  your  fault —  She  was  appar 

ently  still  ruffled  over  her  exclusion. 

When  the  professor  interrupted  her  he  did  not 
speak  with  his  accustomed  spirit,  but  from  something 
novel  in  his  manner  she  recognised  a  danger  signal. 

"  Please  do  not  burst  out  at  it  in  that  way." 

"Then  it  is  true?"  she  asked.  Her  voice  was  a 
mere  awed  whisper. 

"  It  is  true,"  answered  the  professor. 

"Well,"  she  said,  after  reflection,  "I  knew  it.  I 
always  knew  it.  If  you  hadn't  been  so  blind  !  You 
turned  like  a  weather-cock  in  your  opinions  of  Cole 
man.  You  never  could  keep  your  opinion  about  him 
for  more  than  an  hour.  Nobody  could  imagine  what 
you  might  think  next.  And  now  you  see  the  result 
of  it !  I  warned  you  !  I  told  you  what  this  Coleman 
was,  and  if  Marjory  is  suffering  now,  you  have  only 
yourself  to  blame  for  it.  I  warned  you  !  " 

"  If  it  is  my  fault,"  said  the  professor,  drearily,  "  I 


282  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

hope  God  may  forgive  me,  for  here  is  a  great  wrong 
to  my  daughter." 

"  Well,  if  you  had  done  as  I  told  you "  she  be 
gan. 

Here  the  professor  revolted.  "Oh,  now,  do  not  be 
gin  on  that/'  he  snarled,  peevishly.  "  Do  not  begin 
on  that." 

"  Anyhow,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright,  "  it  is  time  that 
weshoul'd  be  going  down  to  dinner.  Is  Marjory  com- 
ing?" 

"  No,  she  is  not,"  answered  the  professor,  "  and  I 
do  not  know  as  I  shall  go  myself." 

"  But  you  must  go.  Think  how  it  would  look ! 
All  the  students  down  there  dining  without  us,  and 
cutting  up  capers  !  You  must  come." 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  dubiously,  "  but  who  will  look  after 
Marjory  ?  " 

"  She  wants  to  be  left  alone,"  announced  Mrs. 
Wainwright,  as  if  she  was  the  particular  herald  of  this 
news.  "  She  wants  to  be  left  alone." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  we  may  as  well  go  down." 

Before  they  went,  the  professor  tiptoed  into  his 
daughter's  room.  In  the  darkness  he  could  only  see 
her  waxen  face  on  the  pillow,  and  her  two  eyes  gazing 
fixedly  at  the  ceiling.  He  did  not  speak,  but  immedi 
ately  withdrew,  closing  the  door  noiselessly  behind 
him. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

IF  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  had  de 
scended  sooner  to  a  lower  floor  of  the  hotel,  they 
would  have  found  reigning  there  a  form  of  anarchy. 
The  students  were  in  a  smoking  room  which  was  also 
an  entrance  hall  to  the  dining  room,  and  because  there 
was  in  the  middle  of  this  apartment  a  fountain  con 
taining  gold  fish,  they  had  been  moved  to  license  and 
sin.  They  had  all  been  tubbed  and  polished  and 
brushed  and  dressed  until  they  were  exuberantly  be 
yond  themselves.  The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  brought 
in  his  dignity  and  showed  it  to  them,  but  they  minded 
it  no  more  than  if  he  had  been  only  a  common  man. 
He  drew  himself  to  his  height  and  looked  gravely 
at  them  and  they  jovially  said  :  "  Hello,  Whiskers." 
American  college  students  are  notorious  in  their  coun 
try  for  their  inclination  to  scoff  at  robed  and  crowned 
authority,  and,  far  from  being  awed  by  the  dignity  of 
the  hotel-keeper,  they  were  delighted  with  it.  It  was 
something  with  which  to  sport.  With  immeasurable 
impudence,  they  copied  his  attitude,  and,  standing  be 
fore  him,  made  comic  speeches,  always  alluding  with 
blinding  vividness  to  his  beard.  His  exit  disappointed 
them.  He  had  not  remained  long  under  fire.  They 


284  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

felt  that  they  could  have  interested  themselves  with 
him  an  entire  evening.  "  Come  back,  Whiskers  !  Oh, 
come  back !  "  Out  in  the  main  hall  he  made  a  ges 
ture  of  despair  to  some  of  his  gaping  minions  and  then 
fled  to  seclusion. 

A  formidable  majority  then  decided  that  Coke  was 
a  gold  fish,  and  that  therefore  his  proper  place  was  in 
the  fountain.  They  carried  him  to  it  while  he  strug 
gled  madly.  This  quiet  room  with  its  crimson  rugs 
and  gilded  mirrors  seemed  suddenly  to  have  become 
an  important  apartment  in  hell.  There  being  as  yet 
no  traffic  in  the  dining  room,  the  waiters  were  all  at 
liberty  to  come  to  the  open  doors,  where  they  stood 
as  men  turned  to  stone.  To  them,  it  was  no  less  than 
incendiarism. 

Coke,  standing  with  one  foot  on  the  floor  and  the 
other  on  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  fountain,  blas 
phemed  his  comrades  in  a  low  tone,  but  with  inten 
tion.  He  was  certainly  desirous  of  lifting  his  foot  out 
of  the  water,  but  it  seemed  that  all  movement  to  that 
end  would  have  to  wait  until  he  had  successfully  ex 
pressed  his  opinions.  In  the  meantime,  there  was 
heard  slow  footsteps  and  the  rustle  of  skirts,  and  then 
some  people  entered  the  smoking  room  on  their  way 
to  dine.  Coke  took  his  foot  hastily  out  of  the  fountain. 

The  faces  of  the  men  of  the  arriving  party  went 
blank,  and  they  turned  their  cold  and  pebbly  eyes 
straight  to  the  front,  while  the  ladies,  after  little  ex- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  285 

pressions  of  alarm,  looked  as  if  they  wanted  to  run. 
In  fact,  the  whole  crowd  rather  bolted  from  this  ex 
traordinary  scene. 

"There,  now,"  said  Coke  bitterly  to  his  companions. 
"  You  see  ?  We  looked  like  little  schoolboys— 

"  Oh,  never  mind,  old  man,"  said  Peter  Tounley. 
"  We'll  forgive  you,  although  you  did  embarrass  us. 
But,  above  everything,  don't  drip.  Whatever  you  do, 
don't  drip." 

The  students  took  this  question  of  dripping  and 
played  upon  it  until  they  would  have  made  quite  in 
sane  anybody  but  another  student.  They  worked  it 
into  all  manner  of  forms,  and  hacked  and  haggled  at 
Coke  until  he  was  driven  to  his  room  to  seek  other 
apparel.  "  Be  sure  and  change  both  legs,"  they  told 
him.  "  Remember  you  can't  change  one  leg  without 
changing  both  legs." 

After  Coke's  departure,  the  United  States  minister 
entered  the  room,  and  instantly  they  were  subdued. 
It  was  not  his  lofty  station  that  affected  them.  There 
are  probably  few  stations  that  would  have  at  all  af 
fected  them.  They  became  subdued  because  they  un- 
feignedly  liked  the  United  States  minister.  They 
were  suddenly  a  group  of  well-bred,  correctly  attired 
young  men  who  had  not  put  Coke's  foot  in  the  foun 
tain.  Nor  had  they  desecrated  the  majesty  of  the 
hotelkeeper. 

"Well,  I  am  delighted,"  said  the  minister,  laughing 


286  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

as  he  shook  hands  with  them  all.  "  I  was  not  sure  I 
would  ever  see  you  again.  You  are  not  to  be  trusted, 
and,  good  boys  as  you  are,  I'll  be  glad  to  see  you  once 
and  forever  over  the  boundary  of  my  jurisdiction. 
Leave  Greece,  you  vagabonds.  However,  I  am  truly 
delighted  to  see  you  all  safe." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  they  said. 

"  How  in  the  world  did  you  get  out  of  it?  You 
must  be  remarkable  chaps.  I  thought  you  were  in  a 
hopeless  position.  I  wired  and  cabled  everywhere  I 
could,  but  I  could  find  out  nothing." 

"  A  correspondent,"  said  Peter  Tounley.  "  I  don't 
know  if  you  have  met  him.  His  name  is  Coleman. 
He  found  us." 

"  Coleman  ?  "  asked  the  minister,  quickly. 

"Yes,  sir.     He  found  us  and  brought  us  out  safely." 

"  Well,  glory  be  to  Coleman,"  exclaimed  the  min 
ister,  after  a  long  sigh  of  surprise.  "  Glory  be  to  Cole 
man  !  I  never  thought  he  could  do  it.'1 

The  students  were  alert  immediately.  "  Why,  did 
you  know  about  it,  sir  ?  Did  he  tell  you  he  was  com 
ing  after  us  ?  " 

"  Of  course.  He  came  to  me  here  in  Athens  and 
asked  where  you  were.  I  told  him  you  were  in  a 
peck  of  trouble.  He  acted  quietly  and  somewhat 
queerly,  and  said  that  he  would  try  to  look  you  up. 
He  said  you  were  friends  of  his.  I  warned  him 
against  trying  it.  Yes,  I  said  it  was  impossible.  I 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  287 

had  no  idea  that  he  would  really  carry  the  thing  out. 
But  didn't  he  tell  you  anything  about  this  himself?" 

14  No,  sir,"  answered  Peter  Tounley.  "  He  never 
said  much  about  it.  I  think  he  usually  contended 
that  it  was  mainly  an  accident." 

"  It  was  no  accident,"  said  the  minister,  sharply. 
"  When  a  man  starts  out  to  do  a  thing  and  does  it, 
you  can't  say  it  is  an  accident." 

"  I  didn't  say  so,  sir,"  said  Peter  Tounley  diffidently. 

"  Quite  true,  quite  true  !  You  didn't,  but — this 
Coleman  must  be  a  man  ! " 

"  We  think  so,  sir,"  said  he  who  was  called  Billie. 
"  He  certainly  brought  us  through  in  style." 

44  But  how  did  he  manage  it?"  cried  the  minister, 
keenly  interested.  "  How  did  he  do  it  ?  " 

"  It  is  hard  to  say,  sir.  But  he  did  it.  He  met  us 
in  the  dead  of  night  out  near  Nikopolis " 

"  Near  Nikopolis  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  And  he  hid  us  in  a  forest  while  a  fight 
was  going  on,  and  then  in  the  morning  he  brought  us 
inside  the  Greek  lines.  Oh,  there  is  a  lot  to  tell- 
Whereupon  they  told  it,  or  as  much  as  they  could 
of  it.  In  the  end,  the  minister  said  :  "  Well,  where  are 
the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  ?  I  want  you  all 
to  dine  with  me  to-night.  I  am  dining  in  the  public 
room,  but  you  won't  mind  that  after  Epirus." 

"  They  should  be  down  now,  sir,"  answered  a  stu 
dent. 


288  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

People  were  now  coming  rapidly  to  dinner  and  pres 
ently  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  appeared. 
The  old  man  looked  haggard  and  white.  He  accepted 
the  minister's  warm  greeting  with  a  strained  pathetic 
smile.  "  Thank  you.  We  are  glad  to  return  safely." 

Once  at  dinner  the  minister  launched  immediately 
into  the  subject  of  Coleman.  "  He  must  be  altogether 
a  most  remarkable  man.  When  he  told  me,  very 
quietly,  that  he  was  going  to  try  to  rescue  you,  I 
frankly  warned  him  against  any  such  attempt.  I 
thought  he  would  merely  add  one  more  to  a  party  of 
suffering  people.  But  the  boys  tell  me  that  he  did 
actually  rescue  you." 

"  Yes,  he  did,"  said  the  professor.  "  It  was  a  very 
gallant  performance,  and  we  are  very  grateful." 

"  Of  course,"  spoke  Mrs.  Wainwright,  "  we  might 
have  rescued  ourselves.  We  were  on  the  right  road, 
and  all  we  had  to  do  was  to  keep  going  on." 

"  Yes,  but  I  understand—  "  said  the  minister.  "  I 
understand  he  took  you  into  a  wood  to  protect  you 
from  that  fight,  and  generally  protected  you  from  all 
kinds  of  trouble.  It  seems  wonderful  to  me,  not  so 
much  because  it  was  done  as  because  it  was  done  by 
the  man  who,  some  time  ago,  calmy  announced  to  me 
that  he  was  going  to  do  it.  Extraordinary." 

"Of  course,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "Oh,  of 
course." 

"  And  where  is  he  now?"  asked  the  minister  sud- 


ACTIVK  SKRVICE.  289 

denly.  "  Has  he  now  left  you  to  the  mercies  of  civili 
sation  ?  " 

There  was  a  moment's  curious  stillness,  and  then 
Mrs.  Wainwright  used  that  high  voice  which — the 
students  believed — could  only  come  to  her  when  she 
was  about  to  say  something  peculiarly  destructive  to 
the  sensibilities.  "Oh,  of  course,  Mr.  Coleman  ren 
dered  us  a  great  service,  but  in  his  private  character 
he  is  not  a  man  whom  we  exactly  care  to  associate 
with." 

"Indeed!"  said  the  minister  staring.  Then  he 
hastily  addressed  the  students.  "  Well,  isn't  this  a 
comic  war?  Did  you  ever  imagine  war  could  be  like 
this?"  The  professor  remained  looking  at  his  wife 
with  an  air  of  stupefaction,  as  if  she  had  opened  up  to 
him  visions  of  imbecility  of  which  he  had  not  even 
dreamed.  The  students  loyally  began  to  chatter  at 
the  minister.  "  Yes,  sir,  it  is  a  queer  war.  After  all 
their  bragging,  it  is  funny  to  hear  that  they  are  run 
ning  away  with  such  agility.  We  thought,  of  course, 
of  the  old  Greek  wars." 

Later,  the  minister  asked  them  all  to  his  rooms  for 
coffee  and  cigarettes,  but  the  professor  and  Mrs.  Wain 
wright  apologetically  retired  to  their  own  quarters. 
The  minister  and  the  students  made  clouds  of  smoke, 
through  which  sang  the  eloquent  descriptions  of  late 
adventures. 

The  minister  had  spent  days  of  listening  to  ques- 


290  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

tions  from  the  State  Department  at  Washington  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  Wainwright  party.  "  I  suppose 
you  know  that  you  are  very  prominent  people  in  the 
United  States  just  now?  Your  pictures  must  have 
been  in  all  the  papers,  and  there  must  have  been 
columns  printed  about  you.  My  life  here  was  made 
almost  insupportable  by  your  friends,  who  consist,  I 
should  think,  of  about  half  the  population  of  the 
country.  Of  course  they  laid  regular  siege  to  the  de 
partment.  I  am  angry  at  Coleman  for  only  one  thing. 
When  he  cabled  the  news  of  your  rescue  to  his  news 
paper  from  Arta,  he  should  have  also  wired  me,  if  only 
to  relieve  my  failing  mind.  My  first  news  of  your 
escape  was  from  Washington — think  of  that." 

"  Coleman  had  us  all  on  his  hands  at  Arta,"  said 
Peter  Tounley.  "  He  was  a  fairly  busy  man." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  the  minister.  "  By  the  way," 
he  asked  bluntly,  "  what  is  wrong  with  him  ?  What 
did  Mrs.  Wainwright  mean  ?  " 

They  were  silent  for  a  time,  but  it  seemed  plain  to 
him  that  it  was  not  evidence  that  his  question  had  de 
moralised  them.  They  seemed  to  be  deliberating 
upon  the  form  of  answer.  Ultimately  Peter  Tounley 
coughed  behind  his  hand.  "  You  see,  sir,"  he  began, 
"  there  is — well,  there  is  a  woman  in  the  case.  Not 
that  anybody  would  care  to  speak  of  it  excepting  to 
you.  But  that  is  what  is  the  cause  of  things,  and  then, 
you  see,  Mrs.  Wainwright  is — well "  He  hesitated 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  291 

a  moment  and  then  completed  his  sentence  in  the  in 
genuous  profanity  of  his  age  and  condition.  "  She  is 
rather  an  extraordinary  old  bird." 

"  But  who  is  the  woman  ?  " 

"Why,  it  is  Nora  Black,  the  actress." 

"  Oh,"  cried  the  minister,  enlightened.  "  Her  ? 
Why,  I  saw  her  here.  She  was  very  beautiful,  but  she 
seemed  harmless  enough.  She  was  somewhat — er — 
confident,  perhaps,  but  she  did  not  alarm  me.  She 
called  upon  me,  and  I  confess  I — why,  she  seemed 
charming." 

"She's  sweet  on  little  Rufus.  That's  the  point," 
said  an  oracular  voice. 

"  Oh, "cried  the  host,  suddenly.  "  I  remember.  She 
asked  me  where  he  was.  She  said  she  had  heard  he 
was  in  Greece,  and  I  told  her  he  had  gone  knight- 
erranting  off  after  you  people.  I  remember  now.  I 
suppose  she  posted  after  him  up  to  Arta,  eh?" 

"  That's  it.     And  so  she  asked  you  where  he  was  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Why,  that  old  flamingo — Mrs.  Wainwright — insists 
that  it  was  a  rendezvous." 

Every  one  exchanged  glances  and  laughed  a  little. 

"And  did  you  see  any  actual  fighting?"  asked  the 
minister. 

"  No.     We  only  heard  it— 

Afterward,  as  they  were  trooping  up  to  their  rooms, 
Peter  Tounley  spoke  musingly.  "  Well,  it  looks  to  me 


292  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

now  as  if  Old  Mother  Wainwright  was  just  a  bad- 
minded  old  hen." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  How  is  one  going  to  tell  what 
the  truth  is  ?  " 

"  At  any  rate,  we  are  sure  now  that  Coleman  had 
nothing  to  do  with  Nora's  debut  in  Epirus." 

They  had  talked  much  of  Coleman,  but  in  their  tones 
there  always  had  been  a  note  of  indifference  or  care 
lessness.  This  matter,  which  to  some  people  was  as 
vital  and  fundamental  as  existence,  remained  to  others 
who  knew  of  it  only  a  harmless  detail  of  life,  with  no 
terrible  powers,  and  its  significance  had  faded  greatly 
when  had  ended  the  close  associations  of  the  late  ad 
venture. 

After  dinner  the  professor  had  gone  directly  to  his 
daughter's  room.  Apparently  she  had  not  moved. 
He  knelt  by  the  bedside  again  and  took  one  of  her 
hands.  She  was  not  weeping.  She  looked  at  him 
and  smiled  through  the  darkness.  "  Daddy,  I  would 
like  to  die,"  she  said.  "  I  think — yes — I  would  like  to 
die." 

For  a  long  time  the  old  man  was  silent,  but  he  arose 
at  last  with  a  definite  abruptness  and  said  hoarsely  : 
"  Wait !  " 

Mrs.  Wainwright  was  standing  before  her  mirror 
with  her  elbows  thrust  out  at  angles  above  her  head, 
while  her  fingers  moved  in  a  disarrangement  of  her 
hair.  In  the  glass  she  saw  a  reflection  of  her  husband 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  293 

coming  from  Marjory's  room,  and  his  face  was  set 
with  some  kind  of  alarming  purpose.  She  turned  to 
watch  him  actually,  but  he  walked  toward  the  door 
into  the  corridor  and  did  not  in  any  wise  heed  her. 
"  Harrison  !  "  she  called.  "  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

He  turned  a  troubled  face  upon  her,  and,  as  if  she 
had  hailed  him  in  his  sleep,  he  vacantly  said : 
•'  What  ?  " 

"Where  are  you  going?"  she  demanded  with  in 
creasing  trepidation. 

He  dropped  heavily  into  a  chair.  "Going?"  he 
repeated. 

She  was  angry.  "  Yes  !  Going  ?  Where  are  you 
going?  " 

"  I  am  going "  he  answered,  "  I  am  going  to 

see  Rufus  Coleman." 

Mrs.  Wain wright  gave  voice  to  a  muffled  scream. 
"  Not  about  Marjory?" 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  about  Marjory." 

It  was  now  Mrs.  Wainwright's  turn  to  look  at  her 
husband  with  an  air  of  stupefaction  as  if  he  had 
opened  up  to  her  visions  of  imbecility  of  which  she 
had  not  even  dreamed.  "  About  Marjory  ! "  she 
gurgled.  Then  suddenly  her  wrath  flamed  out. 
"  Well,  upon  my  word,  Harrison  Wainwright,  you 
are,  of  all  men  in  the  world,  the  most  silly  and  stupid. 
You  are  absolutely  beyond  belief.  Of  all  projects  ! 
And  what  do  you  think  Marjory  would  have  to  say  of 


294  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

it  if  she  knew  it  ?  I  suppose  you  think  she  would  like 
it  ?  Why,  I  tell  you  she  would  keep  her  right  hand 
in  the  fire  until  it  was  burned  off  before  she  would 
allow  you  to  do  such  a  thing." 

"  She  must  never  know  it,"  responded  the  professor, 
in  dull  misery. 

"  Then  think  of  yourself !  Think  of  the  shame  of 
it !  The  shame  of  it  !  " 

The  professor  raised  his  eyes  for  an  ironical  glance 
at  his  wife.  "  Oh  *  *  I  have  thought  of  the  shame 
of  it  ! " 

"  And  you'll  accomplish  nothing,"  cried  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright.  "  You'll  accomplish  nothing.  He'll  only 
laugh  at  you." 

"  If  he  laughs  at  me,  he  will  laugh  at  nothing  but  a 
poor,  weak,  unworldly  old  man.  It  is  my  duty  to  go." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  opened  her  mouth  as  if  she  was 
about  to  shriek.  After  choking  a  moment  she  said : 
"  Your  duty  ?  Your  duty  to  go  and  bend  the  knee  to 
that  man  ?  Your  duty?" 

"  '  It  is  my  duty  to  go/  "  he  repeated  humbly.  "  If 
I  can  find  even  one  chance  for  my  daughter's  happi 
ness  in  a  personal  sacrifice.  He  can  do  no  more  than 
— he  can  do  no  more  than  make  me  a  little  sadder." 

His  wife  evidently  understood  his  humility  as  a 
tribute  to  her  arguments  and  a  clear  indication  that 
she  had  fatally  undermined  his  original  intention. 
"  Oh,  he  would  have  made  you  sadder,"  she  quoth 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  295 

grimly.  "  No  fear !  Why,  it  was  the  most  insane 
idea  I  ever  heard  of." 

The  professor  arose  wearily.  "  Well,  I  must  be 
going  to  this  work.  It  is  a  thing  to  have  ended 
quickly."  There  was  something  almost  biblical  in  his 
manner. 

"  Harrison  !  "  burst  out  his  wife  in  amazed  lamenta 
tion.  "You  are  not  really  going  to  do  it?  Not 
really  !  " 

"  I  am  going  to  do  it,"  he  answered. 

"  Well,  there  ! "  ejaculated  Mrs.  Wainwright  to  the 
heavens.  She  was,  so  to  speak,  prostrate.  "  Well, 
there !  " 

As  the  professor  passed  out  of  the  door  she  cried 
beseechingly  but  futilely  after  him.  "  Harrison."  In 
a  mechanical  way  she  turned  then  back  to  the  mirror 
and  resumed  the  disarrangement  of  her  hair.  She  ad 
dressed  her  image.  "  Well,  of  all  stupid  creatures 
under  the  sun,  men  are  the  very  worst !  "  And  her 
image  said  this  to  her  even  as  she  informed  it,  and  af 
terward  they  stared  at  each  other  in  a  profound  and 
tragic  reception  and  acceptance  of  this  great  truth. 

Presently  she  began  to  consider  the  advisability  of 
going  to  Marjory  with  the  whole  story.  Really,  Har 
rison  must  not  be  allowed  to  go  on  blundering  until 
the  whole  world  heard  that  Marjory  was  trying  to 
break  her  heart  over  that  common  scamp  of  a  Cole- 
man.  It  seemed  to  be  about  time  for  her,  Mrs.  Wain 
wright,  to  come  into  the  situation  and  mend  matters. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

WHEN  the  professor  arrived  before  Coleman's  door, 
he  paused  a  moment  and  looked  at  it.  Previously, 
he  could  not  have  imagined  that  a  simple  door  would 
ever  so  affect  him.  Every  line  of  it  seemed  to  express 
cold  superiority  and  disdain.  It  was  only  the  door  of 
a  former  student,  one  of  his  old  boys,  whom,  as  the 
need  arrived,  he  had  whipped  with  his  satire  in  the 
class  rooms  at  Washurst  until  the  mental  blood  had 
come,  and  all  without  a  conception  of  his  ultimately 
arriving  before  the  door  of  this  boy  in  the  attitude  of 
a  supplicant.  He  would  not  say  it ;  Coleman  probably 
would  not  say  it ;  but — they  would  both  know  it.  A 
single  thought  of  it,  made  him  feel  like  running  away. 
He  would  never  dare  to  knock  on  that  door.  It  would 
be  too  monstrous.  And  even  as  he  decided  that  he 
was  afraid  to  knock,  he  knocked. 

Coleman's  voice  said  :  "  Come  in."  The  professor 
opened  the  door.  The  correspondent,  without  a  coat, 
was  seated  at  a  paper-littered  table.  Near  his  elbow, 
upon  another  table,  was  a  tray  from  which  he  had  evi 
dently  dined  and  also  a  brandy  bottle  with  several 
recumbent  bottles  of  soda.  Although  he  had  so  lately 
arrived  at  the  hotel  he  had  contrived  to  diffuse  his 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  297 

traps  over  the  room  in  an  organised  disarray  which 
represented  a  long  and  careless  occupation  if  it  did 
not  represent  the  scene  of  a  scuffle.  His  pipe  was  in 
his  mouth. 

After  a  first  murmur  of  surprise,  he  arose  and 
reached  in  some  haste  for  his  coat.  "  Come  in,  pro 
fessor,  come  in,"  he  cried,  wriggling  deeper  into  his 
jacket  as  he  held  out  his  hand.  He  had  laid  aside  his 
pipe  and  had  also  been  very  successful  in  flinging  a 
newspaper  so  that  it  hid  the  brandy  and  soda.  This 
act  was  a  feat  of  deference  to  the  professor's  well 
known  principles. 

"Won't  you  sit  down,  sir?"  said  Coleman  cordially. 
His  quick  glance  of  surprise  had  been  immediately 
suppressed  and  his  manner  was  now  as  if  the  pro 
fessor's  call  was  a  common  matter. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Coleman,  I — yes,  I  will  sit  down," 
replied  the  old  man.  His  hand  shook  as  he  laid  it  on 
the  back  of  the  chair  and  steadied  himself  down  into 
it.  "Thank  you!" 

Coleman  looked  at  him  with  a  great  deal  of  ex 
pectation. 

"  Mr.  Coleman  !  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

« I " 

He  halted  then  and  passed  his  hand  over  his  face. 
His  eyes  did  not  seem  to  rest  once  upon  Coleman, 
but  they  occupied  themselves  in  furtive  and  frightened 


298  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

glances  over  the  room.  Coleman  could  make  neither 
head  nor  tail  of  the  affair.  He  would  not  have  be 
lieved  any  man's  statement  that  the  professor  could 
act  in  such  an  extraordinary  fashion.  "  Yes,  sir,"  he 
said  again  suggestively.  The  simple  strategy  resulted 
in  a  silence  that  was  actually  awkward.  Coleman,  de 
spite  his  bewilderment,  hastened  into  a  preserving 
gossip.  "  I've  had  a  great  many  cables  waiting  for 
me  for  heaven  knows  how  long  and  others  have  been 
arriving  in  flocks  to-night.  You  have  no  idea  of  the 
row  in  America,  professor.  Why,  everybody  must 
have  gone  wild  over  the  lost  sheep.  My  paper  has 
cabled  some  things  that  are  evidently  for  you.  For 
instance,  here  is  one  that  says  a  new  puzzle-game 
called  Find  the  Wainwright  Party  has  had  a  big  suc 
cess.  Think  of  that,  would  you."  Coleman  grinned 
at  the  professor.  "  Find  the  Wainwright  Party,  a 
new  puzzle-game.' ' 

The  professor  had  seemed  grateful  for  Coleman's 
tangent  off  into  matters  of  a  light  vein.  "  Yes?"  he 
said,  almost  eagerly.  "  Are  they  selling  a  game  really 
called  that  ?  " 

"Yes,  really,"  replied  Coleman.  "And  of  course 
you  know  that — er — well,  all  the  Sunday  papers  would 
of  course  have  big  illustrated  articles — full  pages — 
with  your  photographs  and  general  private  histories 
pertaining  mostly  to  things  which  are  none  of  their 
business." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  299 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  they  would  do  that,"  admitted  the 
professor.  "  But  I  dare  say  it  may  not  be  as  bad  as 
you  suggest." 

"  Very  like  not,"  said  Coleman.  "  I  put  it  to  you 
forcibly  so  that  in  the  future  the  blow  will  not  be  too 
cruel.  They  are  often  a  weird  lot." 

"  Perhaps  they  can't  find  anything  very  bad  about 
us." 

"  Oh,  no.  And  besides  the  whole  episode  will  prob 
ably  be  forgotten  by  the  time  you  return  to  the  Uni 
ted  States." 

They  talked  on  in  this  way  slowly,  strainedly,  until 
they  each  found  that  the  situation  would  soon  become 
insupportable.  The  professor  had  come  for  a  distinct 
purpose  and  Coleman  knew  it;  they  could  not  sit 
there  lying  at  each  other  forever.  Yet  when  he  saw 
the  pain  deepening  in  the  professor's  eyes,  the  corre 
spondent  again  ordered  up  his  trivialities.  "Funny 
thing.  My  paper  has  been  congratulating  me,  you 
know,  sir,  in  a  wholesale  fashion,  and  I  think — I  feel 
sure — that  they  have  been  exploiting  my  name  all 
over  the  country  as  the  Heroic  Rescuer.  There  is  no 
sense  in  trying  to  stop  them,  because  they  don't  care 
whether  it  is  true  or  not  true.  All  they  want  is  the 
privilege  of  howling  out  that  their  correspondent  res 
cued  you,  and  they  would  take  that  privilege  without 
in  any  ways  worrying  if  I  refused  my  consent.  You 
see,  sir?  I  wouldn't  like  you  to  feel  that  I  was  such  a 


300  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

strident  idiot  as  I  doubtless  am  appearing  now  before 
the  public." 

"  No,"  said  the  professor  absently.  It  was  plain 
that  he  had  been  a  very  slack  listener.  "  I — Mr.  Cole- 
man —  "  he  began. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  Coleman  promptly  and  gently. 

It  was  obviously  only  a  recognition  of  the  futility 
of  further  dallying  that  was  driving  the  old  man  on 
ward.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  if  he  was  resolved  to 
take  this  step,  a  longer  delay  would  simply  make  it 
harder  for  him.  The  correspondent,  leaning  forward, 
was  watching  him  almost  breathlessly. 

*"Mr.  Coleman,  I  understand — or  at  least  I  am  led 
to  believe — that  you — at  one  time,  proposed  marriage 
to  my  daughter?  " 

The  faltering  words  did  not  sound  as  if  either  man 
had  aught  to  do  with  them.  They  were  an  expression 
by  the  tragic  muse  herself.  Coleman's  jaw  fell  and  he 
looked  glassily  at  the  professor.  He  said  :  "  Yes  !  " 
But  already  his  blood  was  leaping  as  his  mind  flashed 
everywhere  in  speculation. 

"  I  refused  my  consent  to  that  marriage,"  said  the 
old  man  more  easily.  "  I  do  not  know  if  the  matter 
has  remained  important  to  you,  but  at  any  rate,  I — I 
retract  my  refusal." 

Suddenly  the  blank  expression  left  Coleman's  face 
and  he  smiled  with  sudden  intelligence,  as  if  informa 
tion  of  what  the  professor  had  been  saying  had  just 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  301 

reached  him.  In  this  smile  there  was  a  sudden  be 
trayal,  too,  of  something  keen  and  bitter  which  had 
lain  hidden  in  the  man's  mind.  He  arose  and  made  a 
step  towards  the  professor  and  held  out  his  hand. 
"  Sir,  I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart ! " 
And  they  both  seemed  to  note  with  surprise  that 
Coleman's  voice  had  broken. 

The  professor  had  arisen  to  receive  Coleman's  hand. 
His  nerve  was  now  of  iron  and  he  was  very  formal. 
"  I  judge  from  your  tone  that  I  have  not  made  a  mis 
take — something  which  I  feared." 

Coleman  did  not  seem  to  mind  the  professor's  for 
mality.  "  Don't  fear  anything.  Won't  you  sit  down 
again  ?  Will  you  have  a  cigar.  *  *  No,  I  couldn't 
tell  you  how  glad  I  am.  How  glad  I  am.  I  feel  like 
a  fool.  *  *  It— 

But  the  professor  fixed  him  with  an  Arctic  eye  and 
bluntly  said  :  "  You  love  her  ?  " 

The  question  steadied  Coleman  at  once.  He 
looked  undauntedly  straight  into  the  professor's  face. 
He  simply  said  :  "  I  love  her  !  " 

"  You  love  her  ?  "  repeated  the  professor. 

"  I  love  her,"  repeated  Coleman. 

After  some  seconds  of  pregnant  silence,  the 
professor  arose.  "  Well,  if  she  cares  to  give  her  life  to 
you,  I  will  allow  it,  but  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  con 
sider  you  nearly  good  enough.  Good-night."  He 
smiled  faintly  as  he  held  out  his  hand. 


302  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Good-night,  sir,"  said  Coleman.  "  And  I  can't 
tell  you  now " 

Mrs.  Wainwright,  in  her  room  was  languishing  in  a 
chair  and  applying  to  her  brow  a  handkerchief  wet 
with  cologne  water.  She  kept  her  feverish  glance 
upon  the  door.  Remembering  well  the  manner  of  her 
husband  when  he  went  out  she  could  hardly  identify 
him  when  he  came  in.  Serenity,  composure,  even 
self-satisfaction,  was  written  upon  him.  He  paid  no 
attention  to  her,  but  going  to  a  chair  sat  down  with 
a  groan  of  contentment. 

"  Well  ? "  cried  Mrs.  Wainwright,  starting  up. 
"Well?" 

«  Well— what  ?  "  he  asked. 

She  waved  her  hand  impatiently.  "  Harrison, 
don't  be  absurd.  You  know  perfectly  well  what  I 
mean.  It  is  a  pity  you  couldn't  think  of  the  anxiety 
I  have  been  in."  She  was  going  to  weep. 

"Oh,  I'll  tell  you  after  awhile,"  he  said  stretching 
out  his  legs  with  the  complacency  of  a  rich  merchant 
after  a  successful  day. 

"  No  !  Tell  me  now,"  she  implored  him.  "  Can't 
you  see  I've  worried  myself  nearly  to  death?"  She 
was  not  going  to  weep,  she  was  going  to  wax  angry. 

"Well,  to  tell  the  truth,"  said  the  professor  with 
considerable  pomposity,  "  I've  arranged  it.  Didn't 
think  I  could  do  it  at  first,  but  it  turned  out " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  303 

"'Arranged  it,"'  wailed  Mrs.  Wainwright.  "Ar 
ranged  what  ?  " 

It  here  seemed  to  strike  the  professor  suddenly 
that  he  was  not  such  a  flaming  example  for  diplo 
matists  as  he  might  have  imagined.  "  Arranged,"  he 
stammered.  "  Arranged " 

"  Arranged  what  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  fixed— I  fixed  it  up." 

"Fixed  what  up?" 

"  It — it "  began  the  professor.  Then  he  swelled 

with  indignation.  "  Why,  can't  you  understand  any 
thing  at  all  ?  I— I  fixed  it." 

"  Fixed  what  ?  " 

"  Fixed  it.     Fixed  it  with  Coleman." 

"  Fixed  what  with  Coleman  ?  " 

The  professor's  wrath  now  took  control  of  him. 
"  Thunder  and  lightenin' !  You  seem  to  jump  at  the 
conclusion  that  I've  made  some  horrible  mistake.  For 
goodness'  sake,  give  me  credit  for  a  particle  of  sense." 

"  What  did  you  do  ?  "  she  asked  in  a  sepulchral  voice. 

"  Well,"  said  the  professor,  in  a  burning  defiance, 
"  I'll  tell  you  what  I  did.  I  went  to  Coleman  and 
told  him  that  once — as  he  of  course  knew — I  had  re 
fused  his  marriage  with  my  daughter,  but  that 
now " 

"  Grrr,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright. 

"But  that  now "  continued  the  professor,  "I 

retracted  that  refusal." 


304  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Mercy  on  us !  "  cried  Mrs.  Wainwright,  throwing 
herself  back  in  the  chair.  "  Mercy  on  us !  What 
fools  men  are  !  " 

"  Now,  wait  a  minute " 

But  Mrs.  Wainwright  began  to  croon :  "  Oh,  if 
Marjory  should  hear  of  this  !  Oh,  if  she  should  hear 
of  it !  Just  let  her  hear " 

"  But  she  must  not,"  cried  the  professor,  tigerishly. 
Just  you  dare!"  And  the  woman  saw  before  her  a 
man  whose  eyes  were  lit  with  a  flame  which  almost 
expressed  a  temporary  hatred. 

****** 

The  professor  had  left  Coleman  so  abruptly  that 
the  correspondent  found  himself  murmuring  half- 
coherent  gratitude  to  the  closed  door  of  his  room. 
Amazement  soon  began  to  be  mastered  by  exultation. 
He  flung  himself  upon  the  brandy  and  soda  and  nego 
tiated  a  strong  glass.  Pacing  the  room  with  nervous 
steps,  he  caught  a  vision  of  himself  in  a  tall  mirror. 
He  halted  before  it.  "  Well,  well,"  he  said.  "  Rufus, 
you're  a  grand  man.  There  is  not  your  equal  any 
where.  You  are  a  great,  bold,  strong  player,  fit  to  sit 
down  to  a  game  with  the  best." 

A  moment  later  it  struck  him  that  he  had  appro 
priated  too  much.  If  the  professor  had  paid  him  a  visit 
and  made  a  wonderful  announcement,  he,  Coleman, 
had  not  been  the  engine  of  it.  And  then  he  enunci 
ated  clearly  something  in  his  mind  which,  even  in  a 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  305 

vague  form,  had  been  responsible  for  much  of  his  early 
elation.  Marjory  herself  had  compassed  this  thing. 
With  shame  he  rejected  a  first  wild  and  preposterous 
idea  that  she  had  sent  her  father  to  him.  He  re 
flected  that  a  man  who  for  an  instant  could  conceive 
such  a  thing  was  a  natural-born  idiot.  With  an  equal 
feeling,  he  rejected  also  an  idea  that  she  could  have 
known  anything  of  her  father's  purpose.  If  she  had 
known  of  his  purpose,  there  would  have  been  no  visit. 

What,  then,  was  the  cause  ?  Coleman  soon  decided 
that  the  professor  had  witnessed  some  demonstration 
of  Marjory's  emotion  which  had  been  sufficiently 
severe  in  its  character  to  force  him  to  the  extraor 
dinary  visit.  But  then  this  also  was  wild  and  prepos 
terous.  That  coldly  beautiful  goddess  would  not 
have  given  a  demonstration  of  emotion  over  Rufus 
Coleman  sufficiently  alarming  to  have  forced  her 
father  on  such  an  errand.  That  was  impossible.  No, 
he  was  wrong;  Marjory  even  indirectly,  could  not  be 
connected  with  the  visit.  As  he  arrived  at  this  de 
cision,  the  enthusiasm  passed  out  of  him  and  he  wore 
a  doleful,  monkish  face. 

11  Well,  what,  then,  was  the  cause  ?  "  After  elim 
inating  Marjory  from  the  discussion  waging  in  his 
mind,  he  found  it  hard  to  hit  upon  anything  rational. 
The  only  remaining  theory  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
professor,  having  a  very  high  sense  of  the  correspond 
ent's  help  in  the  escape  of  the  Wainwright  party,  had 


306  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

decided  that  the  only  way  to  express  his  gratitude 
was  to  revoke  a  certain  decision  which  he  now  could 
see  had  been  unfair.  The  retort  to  this  theory  seemed 
to  be  that  if  the  professor  had  had  such  a  fine  concep 
tion  of  the  services  rendered  by  Coleman,  he  had  had 
ample  time  to  display  his  appreciation  on  the  road  to 
Arta  and  on  the  road  down  from  Arta.  There  was 
no  necessity  for  his  waiting  until  their  arrival  in  Athens. 
It  was  impossible  to  concede  that  the  professor's 
emotion  could  be  a  new  one  ;  if  he  had  it  now,  he 
must  have  had  it  in  far  stronger  measure  directly 
after  he  had  been  hauled  out  of  danger. 

So,  it  may  be  seen  that  after  Coleman  had  eliminated 
Marjory  from  the  discussion  that  was  waging  in  his 
mind,  he  had  practically  succeeded  in  eliminating  the 
professor  as  well.  This,  he  thought,  mournfully,  was 
eliminating  with  a  vengeance.  If  he  dissolved  all  the 
factors  he  could  hardly  proceed. 

The  mind  of  a  lover  moves  in  a  circle,  or  at  least  on 
a  more  circular  course  than  other  minds,  some  of 
which  at  times  even  seem  to  move  almost  in  a  straight 
line.  Presently,  Coleman  was  at  the  point  where  he 
had  started,  and  he  did  not  pause  until  he  reached 
that  theory  which  asserted  that  the  professor  had 
been  inspired  to  his  visit  by  some  sight  or  knowledge 
of  Marjory  in  distress.  Of  course,  Coleman  was  wist 
fully  desirous  of  proving  to  himself  the  truth  of  this 
theory. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  307 

The  palpable  agitation  of  the  professor  during  the 
interview  seemed  to  support  it.  If  he  had  come  on 
a  mere  journey  of  conscience,  he  would  have  hardly 
appeared  as  a  white  and  trembling  old  man.  But 
then,  said  Coleman,  he  himself  probably  exaggerated 
this  idea  of  the  professor's  appearance.  It  might  have 
been  that  he  was  only  sour  and  distressed  over  the 
performance  of  a  very  disagreeable  duty. 

The  correspondent  paced  his  room  and  smoked. 
Sometimes  he  halted  at  the  little  table  where  was  the 
brandy  and  soda.  He  thought  so  hard  that  sometimes 
it  seemed  that  Marjory  had  been  to  him  to  propose 
marriage,  and  at  other  times  it  seemed  that  there  had 
been  no  visit  from  any  one  at  all. 

A  desire  to  talk  to  somebody  was  upon  him.  He 
strolled  down  stairs  and  into  the  smoking  and  reading 
rooms,  hoping  to  see  a  man  he  knew,  even  if  it  were 
Coke.  But  the  only  occupants  were  two  strangers, 
furiously  debating  the  war.  Passing  the  minister's 
room,  Coleman  saw  that  there  was  a  light  within,  and 
he  could  not  forbear  knocking.  He  was  bidden  to 
enter,  and  opened  the  door  upon  the  minister,  care 
fully  reading  his  Spectator  fresh  from  London. 

He  looked  up  and  seemed  very  glad.     "  How  are 
you?"  he  cried.     "I    was   tremendously   anxious  to 
see  you,  do   you  know  !     I  looked    for  you  to  dine 
with  me  to-night,  but  you  were  not  down?  " 
"  No  ;  I  had  a  great  deal  of  work." 


308  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Over  the  Wainwright  affair  ?  By  the  way,  I  want 
you  to  accept  my  personal  thanks  for  that  work.  In 
a  week  more  I  would  have  gone  demented  and  spent 
the  rest  of  my  life  in  some  kind  of  a  cage,  shaking 
the  bars  and  howling  out  State  Department  messages 
about  the  Wainwrights.  You  see,  in  my  territory 
there  are  no  missionaries  to  get  into  trouble,  and  I 
was  living  a  life  of  undisturbed  and  innocent  calm, 
ridiculing  the  sentiments  of  men  from  Smyrna  and 
other  interesting  towns  who  maintained  that  the  dip 
lomatic  service  was  exciting.  However,  when  the 
Wainwright  party  got  lost,  my  life  at  once  became 
active.  I  was  all  but  helpless,  too,  which  was  the 
worst  of  it.  I  suppose  Terry  at  Constantinople  must 
have  got  grandly  stirred  up,  also.  Pity  he  can't  see 
you  to  thank  you  for  saving  him  from  probably  go 
ing  mad.  By  the  way,"  he  added,  while  looking 
keenly  at  Coleman,  "  the  Wainwrights  don't  seem  to 
be  smothering  you  with  gratitude?  " 

"  Oh,  as  much  as  I  deserve — sometimes  more," 
answered  Coleman.  "  My  exploit  was  more  or  less  of 
a  fake,  you  know.  I  was  between  the  lines  by  acci 
dent,  or  through  the  efforts  of  that  blockhead  of  a 
dragoman.  I  didn't  intend  it.  And  then,  in  the 
night,  when  we  were  waiting  in  the  road  because  of  a 
fight,  they  almost  bunked  into  us.  That's  all." 

"  They  tell  it  better,"  said  the  minister,  severely. 
"  Especially  the  youngsters." 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  309 

"Those  kids  got  into  a  high  old  fight  at  a  town  up 
there  beyond  Agrinion.  Tell  you  about  that,  did 
they?  I  thought  not.  Clever  kids.  You  have  noted 
that  there  are  signs  of  a  few  bruises  and  scratches?  " 

"  Yes,  but  I  didn't  ask— 

"  Well,  they  are  from  the  fight.  It  seems  the  people 
took  us  for  Germans,  and  there  was  an  awful  palaver, 
which  ended  in  a  proper  and  handsome  shindig.  It 
raised  the  town,  I  tell  you." 

The  minister  sighed  in  mock  despair.  "  Take  these 
people  home,  will  you  ?  Or  at  any  rate,  conduct 
them  out  of  the  field  of  my  responsibility.  Now, 
they  would  like  Italy  immensely,  I  am  sure." 

Coleman  laughed,  and  they  smoked  for  a  time. 
"  That's  a  charming  girl — Miss  Wainwright,"  said  the 
minister,  musingly.  "And  what  a  beauty!  It  does 
my  exiled  eyes  good  to  see  her.  I  suppose  all  those 
youngsters  are  madly  in  love  with  her  ?  I  don't  see 
how  they  could  help  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Coleman,  glumly.  "  More  than  half  of 
'em." 

The  minister  seemed  struck  with  a  sudden  thought. 
"  You  ought  to  try  to  win  that  splendid  prize  yourself. 
The  rescuer  !  Perseus!  What  more  fitting?  " 

Coleman  answered  calmly:  "Well  *  *  *  I  think 
I'll  take  your  advice." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  next  morning  Coleman  awoke  with  a  sign  of  a 
resolute  decision  on  his  face,  as  if  it  had  been  a  devel 
opment  of  his  sleep.  He  would  see  Marjory  as  soon 
as  possible,  see  her  despite  any  barbed-wire  entangle 
ments  which  might  be  placed  in  the  way  by  her 
mother,  whom  he  regarded  as  his  strenuous  enemy. 
And  he  would  ask  Marjory's  hand  in  the  presence  of 
all  Athens  if  it  became  necessary. 

He  sat  a  long  time  at  his  breakfast  in  order  to  see 
the  Wainwrights  enter  the  dining  room,  and  as  he  was 
about  to  surrender  to  the  will  of  time,  they  came  in, 
the  professor  placid  and  self-satisfied,  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright  worried  and  injured  and  Marjory  cool,  beautiful, 
serene.  If  there  had  been  any  kind  of  a  storm  there 
was  no  trace  of  it  on  the  white  brow  of  the  girl. 
Coleman  studied  her  closely  but  furtively  while  his 
mind  spun  around  his  circle  of  speculation. 

Finally  he  noted  the  waiter  who  was  observing  him 
with  a  pained  air  as  if  it  was  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue 
to  ask  this  guest  if  he  was  going  to  remain  at  break 
fast  forever.  Coleman  passed  out  to  the  reading 
room  where  upon  the  table  a  multitude  of  great  red 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  311 

guide  books  were  crushing  the  fragile  magazines  of 
London  and  Paris.  On  the  walls  were  various  de 
pressing  maps  with  the  name  of  a  tourist  agency 
luridly  upon  them,  and  there  were  also  some  pictures 
of  hotels  with  their  rates — in  francs — printed  beneath. 
The  room  was  cold,  dark,  empty,  with  the  trail  of  the 
tourist  upon  it. 

Coleman  went  to  the  picture  of  a  hotel  in  Corfu 
and  stared  at  it  precisely  as  if  he  was  interested.  He 
was  standing  before  it  when  he  heard  Marjory's  voice 
just  without  the  door.  "  All  right !  I'll  wait."  He 
did  not  move  for  the  reason  that  the  hunter  moves 
not  when  the  unsuspecting  deer  approaches  his  hiding 
place.  She  entered  rather  quickly  and  was  well 
toward  the  centre  of  the  room  before  she  perceived 
Coleman.  "  Oh,"  she  said  and  stopped.  Then  she 
spoke  the  immortal  sentence,  a  sentence  which, 
curiously  enough  is  common  to  the  drama,  to  the 
novel,  and  to  life.  "  I  thought  no  one  was  here." 
She  looked  as  if  she  was  going  to  retreat,  but  it  would 
have  been  hard  to  make  such  retreat  graceful,  and 
probably  for  this  reason  she  stood  her  ground. 

Coleman  immediately  moved  to  a  point  between 
her  and  the  door.  "You  are  not  going  to  run  away 
from  me,  Marjory  Wainwright,"  he  cried,  angrily. 
"  You  at  least  owe  it  to  me  to  tell  me  definitely  that 
you  don't  love  me — that  you  can't  love  me— 

She  did  not  face  him  with  all  of  her  old  spirit,  but 


312  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

she  faced  him,  and  in  her  answer  there  was  the  old 
Marjory.  "  A  most  common  question.  Do  you  ask 
all  your  feminine  acquaintances  that  ?  " 

"  I  mean — "  he  said.  "  I  mean  that  I  love  you 
and " 

"Yesterday — no.  To-day — yes.  To-morrow — who 
knows.  Really,  you  ought  to  take  some  steps  to 
know  your  own  mind." 

"  Know  my  own  mind,"  he  retorted  in  a  burst  of  in 
dignation.  "You  mean  you  ought  to  take  steps  to 
know  your  own  mind." 

"  My  own  mind  !  You—  Then  she  halted  in 
acute  confusion  and  all  her  face  went  pink.  She  had 
been  far  quicker  than  the  man  to  define  the  scene. 
She  lowered  her  head.  "  Let  me  past,  please " 

But  Coleman  sturdily  blocked  the  way  and  even 

took  one  of  her  struggling  hands.  "  Marjory " 

And  then  his  brain  must  have  roared  with  a  thousand 
quick  sentences  for  they  came  tumbling  out,  one 
over  the  other.  *  *  Her  resistance  to  the  grip  of  his 
fingers  grew  somewhat  feeble.  Once  she  raised  her 
eyes  in  a  quick  glance  at  him.  *  *  Then  suddenly 
she  wilted.  She  surrendered,  she  confessed  without 
words.  "  Oh,  Marjory,  thank  God,  thank  God — 

Peter  Tounley  made  a  dramatic  entrance  on  the 
gallop.  He  stopped,  petrified.  "  Whoo  !  "  he  cried. 
"  My  stars!"  He  turned  and  fled.  But  Coleman 
called  after  him  in  a  low  voice,  intense  with  agitation. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  313 

"  Come  back  here,  you  young  scoundrel !  Come  back 
here  !  " 

Peter  returned,  looking  very  sheepish.  "  I  hadn't 
the  slightest  idea  you— 

"  Never  mind  that  now.  But  look  here,  if  you  tell 
a  single  soul — particularly  those  other  young  scoun 
drels—I'll  break— 

"I  won't,  Coleman.  Honest,  I  won't."  He  was 
far  more  embarrassed  than  Coleman  and  almost  equally 
so  with  Marjory.  He  was  like  a  horse  tugging  at  a 
tether.  "  I  won't, Coleman  !  Honest !  " 

"  Well,  all  right,  then."     Peter  escaped. 

»<•..•'*•.»*••»:''* 

The  professor  and  his  wife  were  in  their  sitting  room 
writing  letters.  The  cablegrams  had  all  been  an 
swered,  but  as  the  professor  intended  to  prolong  his 
journey  homeward  into  a  month  of  Paris  and  London, 
there  remained  the  arduous  duty  of  telling  their 
friends  at  length  exactly  what  had  happened.  There 
was  considerable  of  the  lore  of  olden  Greece  in  the 
professor's  descriptions  of  their  escape,  and  in  those 
of  Mrs.  Wainwright  there  was  much  about  the  lack  of 
hair-pins  and  soap. 

Their  heads  were  lowered  over  their  writing  when 
the  door  into  the  corridor  opened  and  shut  quickly, 
and  upon  looking  up  they  saw  in  the  room  a  radiant 
girl,  a  new  Marjory.  She  dropped  to  her  knees  by 
her  father's  chair  and  reached  her  arms  to  his  neck. 
"  Oh,  daddy !  I'm  happy  !  I'm  so  happy !  " 


3i4  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Why — what "  began  the  professor  stupidly. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  happy,  daddy  ! " 

Of  course  he  could  not  be  long  in  making  his  con 
clusion.  The  one  who  could  give  such  joy  to  Mar 
jory  was  the  one  who,  last  night,  gave  her  such  grief. 
The  professor  was  only  a  moment  in  understanding. 
He  laid  his  hand  tenderly  upon  her  head.  "  Bless  my 
soul,"  he  murmured.  "  And  so — and  so — he " 

At  the  personal  pronoun,  Mrs.  Wainwright  lum 
bered  frantically  to  her  feet.  "  What  ?  "  she  shouted. 
"  Coleman  ?" 

"  Yes,"  answered  Marjory.  "  Coleman."  As  she 
spoke  the  name  her  eyes  were  shot  with  soft  yet 
tropic  flashes  of  light. 

Mrs.  Wainwright  dropped  suddenly  back  into  her 
chair.  "  Well— of— all— things  !  " 

The  professor  was  stroking  his  daughter's  hair  and 
although  for  a  time  after  Mrs.  Wainwright's  outbreak 
there  was  little  said,  the  old  man  and  the  girl  seemed 
in  gentle  communion,  she  making  him  feel  her  happi 
ness,  he  making  her  feel  his  appreciation.  Providen 
tially  Mrs.  Wainwright  had  been  so  stunned  by  the 
first  blow  that  she  was  evidently  rendered  incapable  of 
speech. 

"  And  are  you  sure  you  will  be  happy  with  him  ?  " 
asked  her  father  gently. 

"  All  my  life  long,"  she  answered. 

"  I  am  glad  !  I  am  glad  ! "  said  the  father,  but  even 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  315 

as  he  spoke  a  great  sadness  came  to  blend  with  his 
joy.  The  hour  when  he  was  to  give  this  beautiful 
and  beloved  life  into  the  keeping  of  another  had  been 
heralded  by  the  god  of  the  sexes,  the  ruthless  god 
that  devotes  itself  to  the  tearing  of  children  from  the 
parental  arms  and  casting  them  amid  the  mysteries  of 
an  irretrievable  wedlock.  The  thought  filled  him 
with  solemnity. 

But  in  the  dewy  eyes  of  the  girl  there  was  no  ques 
tion.  The  world  to  her  was  a  land  of  glowing  prom 
ise. 

"  I  am  glad,"  repeated  the  professor. 

The  girl  arose  from  her  knees.  "  I  must  go  away 
and — think  all  about  it,"  she  said,  smiling.  When 
the  door  of  her  room  closed  upon  her,  the  mother 
arose  in  majesty. 

"  Harrison  Wainwright,"  she  declaimed,  "  you  are 
not  going  to  allow  this  monstrous  thing !  " 

The  professor  was  aroused  from  a  reverie  by  these 
words.  "  What  monstrous  thing  ?  "  he  growled. 

"  Why,  this  between  Coleman  and  Marjory." 

"  Yes,"  he  answered  boldly. 

"  Harrison  !     That  man  who " 

The  professor  crashed  his  hand  down  on  the  table. 
"  Mary  !  I  will  not  hear  another  word  of  it  !  " 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright,  sullen  and  ominous, 
"  time  will  tell !  Time  will  teil !  " 


316  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

When  Coleman  had  turned  from  the  fleeing  Peter 
Tounley  again  to  Marjory,  he  found  her  making  the 
preliminary  movements  of  a  flight.  "  What's  the 
matter?  "  he  demanded  anxiously. 

"  Oh,  it's  too  dreadful !  " 

"  Nonsense,"  he  retorted  stoutly.  "  Only  Peter 
Tounley  !  He  don't  count.  What  of  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  She  pressed  her  palm  to  a  burning 
cheek.  She  gave  him  a  star-like,  beseeching  glance. 
"  Let  me  go  now — please." 

"  Well,"  he  answered,  somewhat  affronted,  "  if  you 
like " 

At  the  door  she  turned  to  look  at  him,  and  this 
glance  expressed  in  its  elusive  way  a  score  of  things 
which  she  had  not  yet  been  able  to  speak.  It  ex 
plained  that  she  was  loth  to  leave  him,  that  she  asked 
forgiveness  for  leaving  him,  that  even  for  a  short  ab 
sence  she  wished  to  take  his  image  in  her  eyes,  that 
he  must  not  bully  her,  that  there  was  something  now 
in  her  heart  which  frightened  her,  that  she  loved  him, 
that  she  was  happy 

When  she  had  gone,  Coleman  went  to  the  rooms  of 
the  American  minister.  A  Greek  was  there  who 
talked  wildly  as  he  waved  his  cigarette.  Coleman 
waited  in  well-concealed  impatience  for  the  evapora 
tion  of  this  man.  Once  the  minister,  regarding  the 
correspondent  hurriedly,  interpolated  a  comment. 
"  You  look  very  cheerful  ?  " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  317 

"  Yes,"  answered  Coleman,  "  I've  been  taking  your 
advice." 

"  Oh,  ho  !  "  said  the  minister. 

The  Greek  with  the  cigarette  jawed  endlessly. 
Coleman  began  to  marvel  at  the  enduring  good  man 
ners  of  the  minister,  who  continued  to  nod  and  nod  in 
polite  appreciation  of  the  Greek's  harangue,  which, 
Coleman  firmly  believed,  had  no  point  of  interest 
whatever.  But  at  last  the  man,  after  an  effusive  fare 
well,  went  his  way. 

"  Now,"  said  the  minister,  wheeling  in  his  chair, 
"  tell  me  all  about  it." 

Coleman  arose,  and  thrusting  his  hands  deep  in  his 
trousers'  pockets,  began  to  pace  the  room  with  long 
strides.  He  said  nothing,  but  kept  his  eyes  on  the 
floor. 

"  Can  I  have  a  drink  ?  "  he  asked,  abruptly  pausing. 

"What  would  you  like?"  asked  the  minister,  be 
nevolently,  as  he  touched  the  bell. 

"  A  brandy  and  soda.  I'd  like  it  very  much.  You 
see,"  he  said,  as  he  resumed  his  walk,  "  I  have  no  kind 
of  right  to  burden  you  with  my  affairs,  but,  to  tell  the 
truth,  if  I  don't  get  this  news  off  my  mind  and  into 
somebody's  ear,  I'll  die.  It's  this — I  asked  Marjory 
Wainwright  to  marry  me,  and — she  accepted,  and— 
that's  all." 

"  Well,  I  am  very  glad,"  cried  the  minister,  arising 
and  giving  his  hand.  "And  as  for  burdening  me  with 


318  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

your  affairs,  no  one  has  a  better  right,  you  know, 
since  you  released  me  from  the  persecution  of  Wash 
ington  and  the  friends  of  the  Wainwrights.  May  good 
luck  follow  you  both  forever.  You,  in  my  opinion, 
are  a  very,  very  fortunate  man.  And,  for  her  part — 
she  has  not  done  too  badly." 

Seeing  that  it  was  important  that  Coleman  should 
have  his  spirits  pacified  in  part,  the  minister  continued  : 
"  Now,  I  have  got  to  write  an  official  letter,  so  you 
just  walk  up  and  down  here  and  use  up  this  surplus 
steam.  Else  you'll  explode." 

But  Coleman  was  not  to  be  detained.  Now  that  he 
had  informed  the  minister,  he  must  rush  off  some 
where,  anywhere,  and  do — he  knew  not  what. 

"All  right,"  said  the  minister,  laughing.  "You 
have  a  wilder  head  than  I  thought.  But  look  here," 
he  called,  as  Coleman  was  making  for  the  door.  "  Am 
I  to  keep  this  news  a  secret?  " 

Coleman  with  his  hand  on  the  knob,  turned  im 
pressively.  He  spoke  with  deliberation.  "  As  far  as 
I  am  concerned,  I  would  be  glad  to  see  a  man  paint  it 
in  red  letters,  eight  feet  high,  on  the  front  of  the  king's 
palace." 

The  minister,  left  alone,  wrote  steadily  and  did  not 
even  look  up  when  Peter  Tounley  and  two  others 
entered,  in  response  to  his  cry  of  permission.  How 
ever,  he  presently  found  time  to  speak  over  his 
shoulder  to  them.  "  Hear  the  news?" 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  319 

"  No,  sir,"  they  answered. 

"  Well,  be  good  boys,  now,  and  read  the  papers  and 
look  at  pictures  until  I  finish  this  letter.  Then  I'll 
tell  you." 

They  surveyed  him  keenly.  They  evidently 
judged  that  fhe  news  was  worth  hearing,  but,  obe 
diently,  they  said  nothing.  Ultimately  the  minister 
affixed  a  rapid  signature  to  the  letter,  and  turning, 
looked  at  the  students  with  a  smile. 

"  Haven't  heard  the  news,  eh  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"Well,  Marjory  Wainwright  is  engaged  to  marry 
Coleman." 

The  minister  was  amazed  to  see  the  effect  of  this 
announcement  upon  the  three  students.  He  had  ex 
pected  the  crows  and  cackles  of  rather  absurd 
merriment  with  which  unbearded  youth  often  greets 
such  news.  But  there  was  no  crow  or  cackle.  One 
young  man  blushed  scarlet  and  looked  guiltily  at  the 
floor.  With  a  great  effort  he  muttered  :  "  She's  too 
good  for  him."  Another  student  had  turned  ghastly 
pale  and  was  staring.  It  was  Peter  Tounley  who  re 
lieved  the  minister's  mind,  for  upon  that  young  man's 
face  was  a  broad  jack-o'-lantern  grin,  and  the  minister 
saw  that,  at  any  rate,  he  had  not  made  a  complete 
massacre. 

Peter  Tounley  said  triumphantly  :     "  I  knew  it  !  " 

The    minister  was  anxious  over  the  havoc  he  had 


320  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

wrought  with  the  two  other  students,  but  slowly  the 
colour  abated  in  one  face  and  grew  in  the  other.  To 
give  them  opportunity,  the  minister  talked  busily  to 
Peter  Tounley.  "  And  how  did  you  know  it,  you 
young  scamp  ?  " 

Peter  was  jubilant.  "Oh,  I  knew  itl  I  knew  it! 
I  am  very  clever." 

The  student  who  had  blushed  now  addressed  the 
minister  in  a  slightly  strained  voice.  "  Are  you  posi 
tive  that  it  is  true,  Mr.  Gordner?" 

"  I  had  it  on  the  best  authority,"  replied  the  min 
ister  gravely. 

The  student  who  had  turned  pale  said :  "  Oh,  it's 
true,  of  course." 

"  Well,"  said  crudely  the  one  who  had  blushed, 
"  she's  a  great  sight  too  good  for  Coleman  or  anybody 
like  him.  That's  all  I've  got  to  say." 

"  Oh,  Coleman  is  a  good  fellow,"  said  Peter  Tounley, 
reproachfully.  "  You've  no  right  to  say  that — exactly. 
You  don't  know  where  you'd  be  now  if  it  were  not  for 
Coleman." 

The  response  was,  first,  an  angry  gesture.  "  Oh, 
don't  keep  everlasting  rubbing  that  in.  For  heaven's 
sake,  let  up.  Supposing  I  don't  know  where  I'd  be 
now  if  it  were  not  for  Rufus  Coleman  ?  What  of  it  ? 
For  the  rest  of  my  life  have  I  got  to— 

The  minister  saw  that  this  was  the  embittered  speech 
of  a  really  defeated  youth,  so,  to  save  scenes,  he  gen- 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  321 

tly  ejected  the  trio.  "  There,  there,  now  !  Run  along 
home  like  good  boys.  I'll  be  busy  until  luncheon. 
And  I  dare  say  you  won't  find  Coleman  such  a  bad 
chap." 

In  the  corridor,  one  of  the  students  said  offensively 
to  Peter  Tounley  :  "  Say,  how  in  hell  did  you  find 
out  all  this  so  early  ?  " 

Peter's  reply  was  amiable  in  tone.  "  You  are  a 
damned  bleating  little  kid  and  you  made  a  holy  show 
of  yourself  before  Mr.  Gordner.  There's  where  you 
stand.  Didn't  you  see  that  he  turned  us  out  because 
he  didn't  know  but  what  you  were  going  to  blubber 
or  something.  You  are  a  sucking  pig,  and  if  you 
want  to  know  how  I  find  out  things  go  ask  the  Del 
phic  Oracle,  you  blind  ass." 

"  You  better  look  out  or  you  may  get  a  punch  in 
the  eye!" 

"You  take  one  punch  in  the  general  direction  of 
my  eye,  me  son,"  said  Peter  cheerfully,  "and  I'll  dis 
tribute  your  remains  over  this  hotel  in  a  way  that  will 
cause  your  friends  years  of  trouble  to  collect  you. 
Instead  of  anticipating  an  attack  upon  my  eye,  you 
had  much  better  be  engaged  in  improving  your  mind, 
which  is  at  present  not  a  fit  machine  to  cope  with  ex 
citing  situations.  There's  Coke !  Hello,  Coke,  hear 
the  news?  Well,  Marjory  Wainwright  and  Rufus 
Coleman  are  engaged.  Straight  ?  Certainly !  Go 
ask  the  minister." 


322  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Coke  did  not  take  Peter's  word.  "  Is  that  so  ?  "  he 
asked  the  others. 

"  So  the  minister  told  us,"  they  answered,  and  then 
these  two,  who  seemed  so  unhappy,  watched  Coke's 
face  to  see  if  uiey  could  not  find  surprised  misery 
there.  But  Coke  coolly  said  :  "  Well,  then,  I  suppose 
it's  true." 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  students  did  not 
care  for  each  other's  society.  Peter  Tounley  was 
probably  an  exception,  but  the  others  seemed  to  long 
for  quiet  corners.  They  were  distrusting  each  other, 
and,  in  a  boyish  way,  they  were  even  capable  of  malig- 
ant  things.  Their  excuses  for  separation  were  badly 
made. 

"  I — I  think  I'll  go  for  a  walk." 

"  I'm  going  up  stairs  to  read." 

"  Well,  so  long,  old  man."  "  So  long."  There  was 
no  heart  to  it. 

Peter  Tounley  went  to  Coleman's  door,  where  he 
knocked  with  noisy  hilarity.  "  Come  in  !  "  The  cor 
respondent  apparently  had  just  come  from  the  street, 
for  his  hat  was  on  his  head  and  a  light  top-coat  was  on 
his  back.  He  was  searching  hurriedly  through  some 
papers.  "  Hello,  you  young  devil.  What  are  you 
doing  here  ?  " 

Peter's  entrance  was  a  somewhat  elaborate  comedy 
which  Coleman  watched  in  icy  silence.  Peter,  after  a 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  323 

long  and  impudent  pantomime  halted  abruptly  and 
fixing  Coleman  with  his  eye  demanded  :  "  Well  ?  " 

"  Well — what  ?  "  said  Coleman,  bristling  a  trifle. 

"  Is  it  true?'* 

"  Is  what  true  ?  "  r » 

"  Is  it  true?  "     Peter  was  extremely  solemn. 

"  Say,  me  bucko,"  said  Coleman  suddenly,  "  if 
you've  come  up  here  to  twist  the  beard  of  the  patri- 
arch,don't  you  think  you  are  running  a  chance?" 

"All  right.  I'll  be  good,"  said  Peter,  and  he  sat  on 
the  bed.  "  But— is  it  true?  " 

"Is  what  true?  " 

"  What  the  whole  hotel  is  saying." 

"  I  haven't  heard  the  hotel  making  any  remarks 
lately.  Been  talking  to  the  other  buildings,  I  sup 
pose." 

"  Well,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  everybody  knows 
that  you  and  Marjory  have  done  gone  and  got  your 
selves  engaged,"  said  Peter  bluntly. 

"And  well?"  asked  Coleman  imperturbably. 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  replied  Peter,  waving  his  hand. 
"  Only — I  thought  it  might  interest  you." 

Coleman  was  silent  for  some  time.  He  fingered  his 
papers.  At  last  he  burst  out  joyously.  "  And  so 
they  know  it  already,  do  they  ?  Well — damn  them— 
let  them  know  it.  But  you  didn't  tell  them  yourself  ?  " 

"  I  !  "  quoth  Peter  wrathfully.  "  No  !  The  minis 
ter  told  us." 


324  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

Then  Coleman  was  again  silent  for  a  time  and  Peter 
Tounley  sat  on  the  bed  reflectively  looking  at  the 
ceiling.  "  Funny  thing,  Marjory  'way  over  here  in 
Greece,  and  then  you  happening  over  here  the  way 
you  did." 

"  It  isn't  funny  at  all^ 

"  Why  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Coleman  impressively,  "  that  is 
why  I  came  to  Greece.  It  was  all  planned.  See  ?  " 

"  Whirroo,"  exclaimed  Peter.  "  This  here  is 
magic." 

"  No  magic  at  all."  Coleman  displayed  some  com 
placence.  "  No  magic  at  all.  Just  pure,  plain- 
whatever  you  choose  to  call  it." 

"  Holy  smoke,"  said  Peter,  admiring  the  situation. 
"  Why,  this  is  plum  romance,  Coleman.  I'm  blowed 
if  it  isn't." 

Coleman  was  grinning  with  delight.  He  took  a 
fresh  cigar  and  his  bright  eyes  looked  at  Peter  through 
the  smoke.  "  Seems  like  it,  don't  it  ?  Yes.  Regular 
romance.  Have  a  drink,  my  boy,  just  to  celebrate 
my  good  luck.  And  be  patient  if  I  talk  a  great  deal 
of  my — my — future.  My  head  spins  with  it."  He 
arose  to  pace  the  room  flinging  out  his  arms  in  a  great 
gesture.  "  God  !  When  I  think  yesterday  was  not 
like  to-day  I  wonder  how  I  stood  it."  There  was  a 
knock  at  the  door  and  a  waiter  left  a  note  in  Cole- 
man's  hand. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  325 

"  Dear  Rufus : — We  are  going  for  a  drive  this  after 
noon  at  three,  and  mother  wishes  you  to  come,  if  you 
care  to.  I  too  wish  it,  if  you  care  to.  Yours, 

"MARJORY." 

With  a  radiant  face,  Coleman  gave  the  note  a  little 
crackling  flourish  in  the  air.  "  Oh,  you  don't  know 
what  life  is,  kid." 

"S-steady  the  Blues,"  said  Peter  Tounley  seriously. 
"  You'll  lose  your  head  if  you  don't  watch  out." 

"Not  I,"    cried  Coleman    with    irritation.     "But  a 
man  must  turn  loose  some  times,  mustn't  he?" 
*  *  •*  *  -x-  #• 

When  the  four  students  had  separated  in  the  corri 
dor,  Coke  had  posted  at  once  to  Nora  Black's  sitting 
room.  His  entrance  was  somewhat  precipitate,  but 
he  cooled  down  almost  at  once,  for  he  reflected  that 
he  was  not  bearing  good  news.  He  ended  by  perch 
ing  in  awkward  fashion  on  the  brink  of  his  chair  and 
fumbling  his  hat  uneasily.  Nora  floated  to  him  in"a 
cloud  of  a  white  dressing  gown.  She  gave  him 
a  plump  hand.  "  Well,  young  man  ?  "  she  said,  with  a 
glowing  smile.  She  took  a  chair,  and  the  stuff  of  her 
gown  fell  in  curves  over  the  arms  of  it. 

Coke  looked  hot  and  bothered,  as  if  he  could  have 
more  than  half  wanted  to  retract  his  visit.  "  I — aw— 
we  haven't  seen  much  of  you  lately,"  he  began,  spar 
ring.  He  had  expected  to  tell  his  news  at  once. 

"No,"  said  Nora,  languidly.     "  I  have  been  resting 


326  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

after  that  horrible  journey — that  horrible  journey. 
Dear,  dear !  Nothing  will  ever  induce  me  to  leave 
London,  New  York  and  Paris.  I  am  at  home  there. 
But  here !  Why,  it  is  worse  than  living  in  Brooklyn. 
And  that  journey  into  the  wilds  !  No,  no  ;  not  for 
me!" 

"  I  suppose  we'll  all  be  glad  to  get  home,"  said 
Coke,  aimlessly. 

At  the  moment  a  waiter  entered  the  room  and  be 
gan  to  lay  the  table  for  luncheon.  He  kept  open  the 
door  to  the  corridor,  and  he  had  the  luncheon  at  a 
point  just  outside  the  door.  His  excursions  to  the 
trays  were  flying  ones,  so  that,  as  far  as  Coke's  pur 
pose  was  concerned,  the  waiter  was  always  in  the 
room.  Moreover,  Coke  was  obliged,  naturally,  to  de 
part  at  once.  He  had  bungled  everything. 

As  he  arose  he  whispered  hastily :  "  Does  this 
waiter  understand  English  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Nora.     "  Why  ?  " 

"  Because  I  have  something  to  tell  you — import 
ant." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  whispered  Nora,  eagerly. 

He  leaned  toward  her  and  replied  :  "  Marjory  Wain- 
wright  and  Coleman  are  engaged." 

To  his  unfeigned  astonishment,  Nora  Black  burst 
into  peals  of  silvery  laughter.  "  Oh,  indeed  ?  And 
so  this  is  your  tragic  story,  poor,  innocent  lambkin? 
And  what  did  you  expect?  That  I  would  faint  ?  " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  327 

"  I  thought — I  don't  know—  "  murmured  Coke  in 
confusion. 

Nora  became  suddenly  business-like.  "  But  how  do 
you  know  ?  Are  you  sure  ?  Who  told  you  ?  Any 
how,  stay  to  luncheon.  Do — like  a  good  boy.  Oh, 
you  must." 

Coke  dropped  again  into  his  chair.  He  studied  her 
in  some  wonder.  "  I  thought  you'd  be  surprised," 
he  said,  ingenuously. 

"  Oh,  you  did,  did  you  ?  Well,  you  see  I'm  not. 
And  now  tell  me  all  about  it." 

"  There's  really  nothing  to  tell  but  the  plain  fact. 
Some  of  the  boys  dropped  in  at  the  minister's 
rooms  a  little  while  ago,  and  he  told  them  of  it. 
That's  all." 

"  Well,  how  did  he  know  ?  " 

11 1  am  sure  I  can't  tell  you.  Got  it  first  hand,  I 
suppose.  He  likes  Coleman,  and  Coleman  is  always 
hanging  up  there." 

"  Oh,  perhaps  Coleman  was  lying,"  said  Nora 
easily.  Then  suddenly  her  face  brightened  and  she 
spoke  with  animation.  "  Oh,  I  haven't  told  'you  how 
my  little  Greek  officer  has  turned  out.  Have  I  ? 
No  ?  Well,  it  is  simply  lovely.  Do  you  know,  he  be 
longs  to  one  of  the  best  families  in  Athens  ?  He  does. 
And  they're  rich— rich  as  can  be.  My  courier  tells 
me  that  the  marble  palace  where  they  live  is  enough 
to  blind  you,  and  that  if  titles  hadn't  gone  out  of 


328  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

style — or  something — here  in  Greece,  my  little  officer 
would  be  a  prince !  Think  of  that  !  The  courier 
didn't  know  it  until  we  got  to  Athens,  and  the  little 
officer — the  prince — gave  me  his  card,  of  course.  One 
of  the  oldest,  noblest  and  richest  families  in  Greece. 
Think  of  that !  There  I  thought  he  was  only  a 
bothersome  little  officer  who  came  in  handy  at  times, 
and  there  he  turns  out  to  be  a  prince.  I  could  hardly 
keep  myself  from  rushing  right  off  to  find  him  and 
apologise  to  him  for  the  way  I  treated  him.  It  was 
awful !  And—  "  added  the  fair  Nora,  pensively,  "  if 
he  does  meet  me  in  Paris,  I'll  make  him  wear  that 
title  down  to  a  shred,  you  can  bet.  What's  the  good 
of  having  a  title  unless  you  make  it  work?" 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

COKE  did  not  stay  to  luncheon  with  Nora  Black. 
He  went  away  saying  to  himself :  "  Either  that  girl 
don't  care  a  straw  for  Coleman  or  she  has  got  a  heart 
absolutely  of  flint,  or  she  is  the  greatest  actress  on 
earth  or — there  is  some  other  reason." 

At  his  departure,  Nora  turned  and  called  into  an 
adjoining  room.  "  Maude  !  "  The  voice  of  her  com 
panion  and  friend  answered  her  peevishly.  "  What  ? 
Don't  bother  me.  I'm  reading." 

"  Well,  anyhow,  luncheon  is  ready,  so  you  will  have 
to  stir  your  precious  self,"  responded  Nora.  "  You're 
lazy." 

"  I  don't  want  any  luncheon.  Don't  bother  me. 
"  I've  got  a  headache." 

"  Well,  if  you  don't  come  out,  you'll  miss  the  news. 
That's  all  I've  got  to  say." 

There  was  a  rustle  in  the  adjoining  room,  and 
immediately  the  companion  appeared,  seeming  much 
annoyed  but  curious.  "  Well,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Rufus  Coleman  is  engaged  to  be  married  to  that 
Wainwright  girl,  after  all." 

"  Well,  I    declare !  "  ejaculated    the  little  old   lady. 


330  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Well,  I  declare."  She  meditated  for  a  moment, 
and  then  continued  in  a  tone  of  satisfaction.  "  I  told 
you  that  you  couldn't  stop  that  man  Coleman  if  he 
had  really  made  up  his  mind  to " 

"  You're  a  fool,"  said  Nora,  pleasantly. 

"  Why  ?  "  said  the  old  lady. 

"  Because  you  are.  Don't  talk  to  me  about  it.  I 
want  to  think  of  Marco.'* 

"  '  Marco,'  "  quoted  the  old  lady  startled. 

"  The  prince.  The  prince.  Can't  you  understand  ? 
I  mean  the  prince." 

"  *  Marco  !  '  '  again  quoted  the  old  lady,  under  her 
breath. 

"  Yes, '  Marco,'  "  cried  Nora,  belligerently.  "  '  Marco.' 
Do  you  object  to  the  name  ?  What's  the  matter  with 
you,  anyhow  ?  " 

"  Well,"  rejoined  the  other,  nodding  her  head  wisely, 
"  he  may  be  a  prince,  but  I've  always  heard  that 
these  continental  titles  are  no  good  in  comparison  to 
the  English  titles." 

"Yes,  but  who  told  you  so,  eh?"  demanded  Nora, 
noisily.  She  herself  answered  the  question.  "The 
English ! " 

"  Anyhow,  that  little  marquis  who  tagged  after  you 
in  London  is  a  much  bigger  man  in  every  way,  I'll 
bet,  than  this  little  prince  of  yours." 

"  But — good  heavens — he  didn't  mean  it.  Why,  he 
was  only  one  of  the  regular  rounders.  But  Marco,  he 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  331 

is  serious !  He  means  it.  He'd  go  through  fire  and 
water  for  me  and  be  glad  of  the  chance." 

"  Well,"  proclaimed  the  old  lady,  "  if  you  are  not 
the  strangest  woman  in  the  world,  I'd  like  to  know  ! 
Here  I  thought— 

"  What  did  you  think  ?  "  demanded  Nora,  suspi 
ciously. 

"  I  thought  that  Coleman— 

"Bosh!"  interrupted  the  graceful  Nora.  "I  tell 
you  what,  Maude  ;  you'd  better  try  to  think  as  little 
as  possible.  It  will  suit  your  style  of  beauty  better. 
And  above  all,  don't  think  of  my  affairs.  I  myself 

am  taking  pains  not  to  think  of  them.     It's  easier." 
•***#*# 

Mrs.  Wainwright,  with  no  spirit  of  intention  what 
ever,  had  set  about  readjusting  her  opinions.  It  is 
certain  that  she  was  unconscious  of  any  evolution.  If 
some  one  had  said  to  her  that  she  was  surrendering  to 
the  inevitable,  she  would  have  been  immediately  on 
her  guard,  and  would  have  opposed  forever  all  sugges 
tions  of  a  match  between  Marjory  and  Coleman.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  some  one  had  said  to  her  that  her 
daughter  was  going  to  marry  a  human  serpent,  and 
that  there  were  people  in  Athens  who  would  be  glad 
to  explain  his  treacherous  character,  she  would  have 
haughtily  scorned  the  tale-bearing  and  would  have 
gone  with  more  haste  into  the  professor's  way  of 
thinking.  In  fact,  she  was  in  process  of  undermining 


332  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

herself,  and  the  work  could  have  been  retarded  or 
advanced  by  any  irresponsible,  gossipy  tongue. 

The  professor,  from  the  depths  of  his  experience 
with  her,  arranged  a  course  of  conduct.  "  If  I  just 
leave  her  to  herself  she  will  come  around  all  right, 
but  if  I  go  '  striking  while  the  iron  is  hot,'  or  any  of 
those  things,  I'll  bungle  it  surely." 

As  they  were  making  ready  to  go  down  to  luncheon, 
Mrs.  Wainwright  made  her  speech  which  first  indi 
cated  a  changing  mind.  "  Well,  what  will  be,  will  be," 
she  murmured  with  a  prolonged  sigh  of  resignation. 
"  What  will  be,  will  be.  Girls  are  very  headstrong  in 
these  days,  and  there  is  nothing  much  to  be  done  with 
them.  They  go  their  own  roads.  It  wasn't  so  in  my 
girlhood.  We  were  obliged  to  pay  attention  to  our 
mothers'  wishes." 

"  I  did  not  notice  that  you  paid  much  attention  to 
your  mother's  wishes  when  you  married  me,"  remarked 
the  professor.  "  In  fact,  I  thought " 

"  That  was  another  thing,"  retorted  Mrs.  Wain 
wright  with  severity.  "  You  were  a  steady  young  man 
who  had  taken  the  highest  honours  all  through  your 
college  course,  and  my  mother's  sole  objection  was 
that  we  were  too  hasty.  She  thought  we  ought  to 
wait  until  you  had  a  penny  to  bless  yourself  with, 
and  I  can  see  now  where  she  was  quite  right." 

"  Well,  you  married  me,  anyhow,"  said  the  pro 
fessor,  victoriously. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  333 

Mrs.  Wainwright  allowed  her  husband's  retort  t<> 
pass  over  her  thoughtful  mood.  "  They  say  *  *  they 
say  Rufus  Colemun  makes  as  much  as  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  a  year.  That's  more  than  three  times  your  in 
come  *  *  I  don't  know.  *  *  It  all  depends  on  whetlu-r 
they  try  to  save  or  not.  His  manner  of  life  is,  no 
doubt,  very  luxurious.  I  don't  suppose  he  knows 
how  to  economise  at  all.  That  kind  of  a  man  usually 
doesn't.  And  then,  in  the  newspaper  world  positions 
are  so  very  precarious.  Men  may  have  valuable  posi 
tions  one  minute  and  be  penniless  in  the  street  the 
next  minute.  It  isn't  as  if  he  had  any  real  income, 
and  of  course  he  has  no  real  ability.  If  he  was  sud 
denly  thrown  out  of  his  position,  goodness  knows  what 
would  become  of  him.  Still  *  *  still  *  *  fifteen  thous 
and  dollars  a  year  is  a  big  income  *  *  while  it  lasts.  I 
suppose  he  is  very  extravagant.  That  kind  of  a  man 
usually  is.  And  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  he  was 
heavily  in  debt ;  very  heavily  in  debt.  Still  '  *  if 
Marjory  has  set  her  heart  there  is  nothing  to  be  done, 
I  suppose.  It  wouldn't  have  happened  if  you  had 
been  as  wise  as  you  thought  you  were.  *  'r  I  suppose 
he  thinks  I  have  been  very  rude  to  him.  Well,  some 
times  I  wasn't  nearly  so  rude  as  I  felt  like  being. 
Feeling  as  I  did,  I  could  hardly  be  very  amiable.  * 
Of  course  this  drive  this  afternoon  was  all  your  affair 
and  Marjory's.  But,  of  course,  I  shall  be  nice  to  him." 

"  And  what  of  all  this  Nora  Black  business  ?  "  asked 


334  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

the  professor,  with  a  display  of  valour,  but  really  with 
much  trepidation. 

"  She  is  a  hussy,"  responded  Mrs.  Wainwright  with 
energy.  "  Her  conversation  in  the  carriage  on  the 
way  down  to  Agrinion  sickened  me !  " 

"  I  really  believe  that  her  plan  was  simply  to  break 
everything  off  between  Marjory  and  Coleman,"  said 
the  professor,  "  and  I  don't  believe  she  had  any  grounds 
for  all  that  appearance  of  owning  Coleman  and  the 
rest  of  it." 

"  Of  course  she  didn't,"  assented  Mrs.  Wainwright. 
"  The  vicious  thing  !  " 

"  On  the  other  hand,"  said  the  professor,  "  there 
might  be  some  truth  in  it." 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright  seriously. 
"  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it." 

"You  do  not  mean  to  say  that  you  think  Coleman 
a  model  man  ?  "  demanded  the  professor. 

"  Not  at  all !  Not  at  all !  "  she  hastily  answered. 
"  But  *  *  one  doesn't  look  for  model  men  these  days." 

"  Who  told  you  he  made  fifteen  thousand  a  year  ?  " 
asked  the  professor. 

"  It  was  Peter  Tounley  this  morning.  We  were 
talking  upstairs  after  breakfast,  and  he  remarked  that 
he  if  could  make  fifteen  thousand  a  year  like  Coleman, 
he'd — I've  forgotten  what — some  fanciful  thing." 

"  I  doubt  if  it  is  true,"  muttered  the  old  man  wag 
ging  his  head. 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  335 

"  Of  course  it's  true,"  said  his  wife  emphatically. 
"  Peter  Tounley  says  everybody  knows  it." 

"  Well  *  anyhow  *  money  is  not  everything." 

"  But  it's  a  great  deal,  you  know  well  enough.  You 
know  you  are  always  speaking  of  poverty  as  an  evil, 
as  a  grand  resultant,  a  collaboration  of  many  lesser 
evils.  Well,  then  ?  " 

"  But,"  began  the  professor  meekly,  "  when  I  say 
that  I  mean — 

"  Well,  money  is  money  and  poverty  is  poverty," 
interrupted  his  wife.  *'  You  don't  have  to  be  very 
learned  to  know  that." 

"  I  do  not  say  that  Coleman  has  not  a  very  nice 
thing  of  it,  but  I  must  say  it  is  hard  to  think  of  his 
getting  any  such  sum  as  you  mention." 

"  Isn't  he  known  as  the  most  brilliant  journalist  in 
New  York  ?  "  she  demanded  harshly. 

"Y-yes,  as  long  as  it  lasts,  but  then  one  never 
knows  when  he  will  be  out  in  the  street  penniless. 
Of  course  he  has  no  particular  ability  which  would 
be  marketable  if  he  suddenly  lost  his  present  employ 
ment.  Of  course  it  is  not  as  if  he  was  a  really  tal 
ented  young  man.  He  might  not  be  able  to  make  his 
way  at  all  in  any  new  direction." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Mrs.  Wainwright 
in  reflective  protestation.  "  I  don't  know  about  that. 
I  think  he  would." 

"  I  thought  you  said  a  moment  ago —       The  pro- 


336  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

fessor  spoke  with  an  air  of  puzzled  hesitancy.  "  I 
thought  you  said  a  moment  ago  that  he  wouldn't  suc 
ceed  in  anything  but  journalism." 

Mrs.  Wainwright  swam  over  the  situation  with  a 
fine  tranquility.  "  Well-1-1,"  she  answered  musingly, 
"  if  I  did  say  that,  I  didn't  mean  it  exactly." 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  spoke  the  professor,  and  de 
spite  the  necessity  for  caution  he  could  not  keep  out 
of  his  voice  a  faint  note  of  annoyance. 

"  Of  course,"  continued  the  wife,  "  Rufus  Coleman 
is  known  everywhere  as  a  brilliant  man,  a  very  brilliant 
man,  and  he  even  might  do  well  in — in  politics  or 
something  of  that  sort." 

"  I  have  a  very  poor  opinion  of  that  kind  of  a  mind 
which  does  well  in  American  politics,"  said  the  pro 
fessor,  speaking  as  a  collegian,  "but  I  suppose  there 
may  be  something  in  it." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,"  decided  Mrs.  Wainwright. 
"  At  any  rate — 

At  that  moment,  Marjory  attired  for  luncheon  and 
the  drive  entered  from  her  room,  and  Mrs.  Wainwright 
checked  the  expression  of  her  important  conclusion. 
Neither  father  or  mother  had  ever  seen  her  so  glow 
ing  with  triumphant  beauty,  a  beauty  which  would 
carry  the  mind  of  a  spectator  far  above  physical  ap 
preciation  into  that  realm  of  poetry  where  creatures 
of  light  move  and  are  beautiful  because  they  cannot 
know  pain  or  a  burden.  It  carried  tears  to  the  old 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  337 

father's  eyes.  He  took  her  hands.  "  Don't  be  too 
happy,  my  child,  don't  be  too  happy,"  he  admonished 
her  tremulously.  "  It  makes  me  afraid — it  makes  me 
afraid." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

IT  seems  strange  that  the  one  who  was  the  most 
hilarious  over  the  engagement  of  Marjory  and  Cole- 
man  should  be  Coleman's  dragoman  who  was  indeed 
in  a  state  bordering  on  transport.  It  is  not  known 
how  he  learned  the  glad  tidings,  but  it  is  certain  that 
he  learned  them  before  luncheon.  He  told  all  the 
visible  employes  of  the  hotel  and  allowed  them  to 
know  that  the  betrothal  really  had  been  his  handi 
work.  He  had  arranged  it.  He  did  not  make  quite 
clear  how  he  had  performed  this  feat,  but  at  least  he 
was  perfectly  frank  in  acknowledging  it. 

When  some  of  the  students  came  down  to  luncheon, 
they  saw  him  but  could  not  decide  what  ailed  him. 
He  was  in  the  main  corridor  of  the  hotel,  grinning 
from  ear  to  ear,  and  when  he  perceived  the  students 
he  made  signs  to  intimate  that  they  possessed  in  com 
mon  a  joyous  secret.  "What's  the  matter  with  that 
idiot  ? "  asked  Coke  morosely.  "  Looks  as  if  his 
wheels  were  going,  around  too  fast." 

Peter  Tounley  walked  close  to  him  and  scanned 
him  imperturbably,  but  with  care.  "  What's  up, 
Phidias  ?  "  The  man  made  no  articulate  reply.  He 
continued  to  grin  and  gesture.  "  Pain  in  oo  tummy  ? 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  339 

Mother  dead?  Caught  the  cholera?  Found  out 
that  you've  swallowed  a  pair  of  hammered  brass  and 
irons  in  your  beer  ?  Say,  who  are  you,  anyhow  ?  " 
But  he  could  not  shake  this  invincible  glee,  so  he 
went  away. 

The  dragoman's  rapture  reached  its  zenith  when 
Coleman  lent  him  to  the  professor  and  he  was  com 
missioned  to  bring  a  carriage  for  four  people  to  the 
door  at  three  o'clock.  He  himself  was  to  sit  on 
the  box  and  tell  the  driver  what  was  required  of 
him.  He  dashed  off,  his  hat  in  his  hand,  his  hair  fly 
ing,  puffing,  important  beyond  everything,  and  appar 
ently  babbling  his  mission  to  half  the  people  he  met 
on  the  street.  In  most  countries  he  would  have 
landed  speedily  in  jail,  but  among  a  people  who  exist 
on  a  basis  of  jibbering,  his  violent  gabble  aroused  no 
suspicions  as  to  his  sanity.  However,  he  stirred 
several  livery  stables  to  their  depths  and  set  men  run 
ning  here  and  there  wildly  and  for  the  most  part 
futilely. 

At  fifteen  minutes  to  three  o'clock,  a  carriage  with 
its  horses  on  a  gallop  tore  around  the  corner  and  up 
to  the  front  of  the  hotel,  where  it  halted  with  the 
pomp  and  excitement  of  a  fire  engine.  The  dragoman 
jumped  down  from  his  seat  beside  the  driver  and 
scrambled  hurriedly  into  the  hotel,  in  the  gloom  of 
which  he  met  a  serene  stillness  which  was  punctuated 
only  by  the  leisurely  tinkle  of  silver  and  glass  in  the 


340  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

dining  room.  For  a  moment  the  dragoman  seemed 
really  astounded  out  of  speech.  Then  he  plunged 
into  the  manager's  room.  Was  it  conceivable  that 
Monsieur  Coleman  was  still  at  luncheon?  Yes;  in 
fact,  it  was  true.  But  the  carriage  was  at  the  door ! 
The  carriage  was  at  the  door !  The  manager,  undis 
turbed,  asked  for  what  hour  Monsieur  Coleman  had 
been  pleased  to  order  a  carriage.  Three  o'clock  ! 
Three  o'clock?  The  manager  pointed  calmly  at  the 
clock.  Very  well.  It  was  now  only  thirteen  minutes 
of  three  o'clock.  Monsieur  Coleman  doubtless  would 
appear  at  three.  Until  that  hour  the  manager  would 
not  disturb  Monsieur  Coleman.  The  dragoman 
clutched  both  his  hands  in  his  hair  and  cast  a  look  of 
agony  to  the  ceiling.  Great  God !  Had  he  accom 
plished  the  herculean  task  of  getting  a  carriage  for 
four  people  to  the  door  of  the  hotel  in  time  for  a  drive 
at  three  o'clock,  only  to  meet  with  this  stoniness,  this 
inhumanity?  Ah,  it  was  unendurable?  He  begged 
the  manager ;  he  implored  him.  But  at  every  word 
the  manager  seemed  to  grow  more  indifferent,  more 
callous.  He  pointed  with  a  wooden  finger  at  the 
clock-face.  In  reality,  it  is  thus  that  Greek  meets 
Greek. 

Professor  Wainwright  and  Coleman  strolled  together 
out  of  the  dining  room.  The  dragoman  rushed  ecstat 
ically  upon  the  correspondent.  "  Oh,  Meester  Cole 
man  !  The  carge  is  ready  !  " 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  341 

"  Well,  all  right,"  said  Coleman,  knocking  ashes 
from  his  cigar.  "  Don't  be  in  a  hurry.  I  suppose 
we'll  be  ready  presently."  The  man  was  in  despair. 

The  departure  of  the  Wainwrights  and  Coleman  on 
this  ordinary  drive  was  of  a  somewhat  dramatic  and 
public  nature.  No  one  seemed  to  know  how  to  pre 
vent  its  being  so.  In  the  first  place,  the  attendants 
thronged  out  en  masse  for  a  reason  which  was  plain 
at  the  time  only  to  Coleman's  dragoman.  And,  rather 
in  the  background,  lurked  the  interested  students. 
The  professor  was  surprised  and  nervous.  Coleman 
was  rigid  and  angry.  Marjory  was  flushed  and  some 
what  hurried,  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  was  as  proud  as 
an  old  turkey-hen. 

As  the  carriage  rolled  away,  Peter  Tounley  turned 
to  his  companions  and  said  :  "  Now,  that's  official ! 
That  is  the  official  announcement  !  Did  you  see  Old 
Mother  Wainwright  ?  Oh,  my  eye,  wasn't  she  puffed 
up  !  Say,  what  in  hell  do  you  suppose  all  these  jay- 
hawking  bell-boys  poured  out  to  the  kerb  for?  Go 
back  to  your  cages,  my  good  people- 
As  soon  as  the  carriage  wheeled  into  another 
street,  its  occupants  exchanged  easier  smiles,  and 
they  must  have  confessed  in  some  subtle  way  of 
glances  that  now  at  last  they  were  upon  their  own 
mission,  a  mission  undefined  but  earnest  to  them  all. 
Coleman  had  a  glad  feeling  of  being  let  into  the  fam 
ily,  or  becoming  one  of  them. 


342  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

The  professor  looked  sideways  at  him  and  smiled 
gently.  "You  know,  I  thought  of  driving  you  to 
some  ruins,  but  Marjory  would  not  have  it.  She  flatly 
objected  to  any  more  ruins.  So  I  thought  we  would 
drive  down  to  New  Phalerum." 

Coleman  nodded  and  smiled  as  if  he  were  immensely 
pleased,  but  of  course  New  Phalerum  was  to  him  no 
more  nor  less  than  Vladivostok  or  Khartoum. 
Neither  place  nor  distance  had  interest  for  him. 
They  swept  along  a  shaded  avenue  where  the  dust  lay 
thick  on  the  leaves ;  they  passed  cafes  where  crowds 
were  angrily  shouting  over  the  news  in  the  little  pa 
pers  ;  they  passed  a  hospital  before  which  wounded 
men,  white  with  bandages,  were  taking  the  sun  ;  then 
came  soon  to  the  arid  valley  flanked  by  gaunt  naked 
mountains,  which  would  lead  them  to  the  sea.  Some 
times  to  accentuate  the  dry  nakedness  of  this  valley, 
there  would  be  a  patch  of  grass  upon  which  poppies 
burned  crimson  spots.  The  dust  writhed  out  from 
under  the  wheels  of  the  carriage ;  in  the  distance  the 
sea  appeared,  a  blue  half-disc  set  between  shoulders  of 
barren  land.  It  would  be  common  to  say  that  Cole 
man  was  oblivious  to  all  about  him  but  Marjory.  On 
the  contrary,  the  parched  land,  the  isolated  flame  of 
poppies,  the  cool  air  from  the  sea,  all  were  keenly 
known  to  him,  and  they  had  developed  an  extraordi 
nary  power  of  blending  sympathetically  into  his 
mood.  Meanwhile  the  professor  talked  a  great  deal. 


ACTIVK  SERVICE.  343 

And  as  a  somewhat  exhilarating  detail,  Coleman  per 
ceived  that  Mrs.  Wainwright  was  he. uning  upon  him. 

At  New  Phalerum — a  small  collection  of  pale  square 
villas — they  left  the  carriage  and  strolled  by  the  sea. 
The  waves  were  snarling  together  like  wolves  amid 
the  honeycomb  rocks  and  from  where  the  blue  plane 
sprang  level  to  the  horizon,  came  a  strong  cold  breeze, 
the  kind  of  a  breeze  which  moves  an  exulting  man  or 
a  parson  to  take  off  his  hat  and  let  his  locks  flutter 
and  tug  back  from  his  brow. 

The  professor  and  Mrs.  Wainwright  were  left  to 
themselves. 

Marjory  and  Coleman  did  not  speak  for  a  time.  It 
might  have  been  that  they  did  not  quite  know  where 
to  make  a  beginning.  At  last  Marjory  asked  : 

"What  has  become  of  your  splendid  horse?" 

"  Oh,  I've  told  the  dragoman  to  have  him  sold  as 
soon  as  he  arrives,"  said  Coleman  absently. 

"  Oh,  I'm  sorry  *  *  I  liked  that  horse." 

"Why?" 

"  Oh,  because " 

"Well,  he  was  a  fine—  Then  he,  too,  inter 

rupted  himself,  for  he  saw  plainly  that  they  had  not 
come  to  this  place  to  talk  about  a  horse.  Thereat  he 
made  speech  of  matters  which  at  least  did  not  afford 
as  many  opportunities  for  coherency  as  would  the 
horse.  "  Marjory,  it  can't  be  true  *  *  Is  it  true, 
dearest  ?  *  *  I  can  hardly  believe  it.  —I— 


344  ACTIVE  SERVICE. 

"  Oh,  I  know  I'm  not  nearly  good  enough  for  you." 

"  Good  enough  for  me,  dear?" 

"  They  all  told  me  so,  and  they  were  right  !  Why, 
even  the  American  minister  said  it.  Everybody  thinks 
it." 

"  Why,  aren't  they  wretches  !  To  think  of  them 
saying  such  a  thing !  As  if — as  if  anybody  could  be 

*•  -x-  *  *  *  * 

"  Do  you  know "  She  paused  and  looked  at 

him  with  a  certain  timid  challenge.  "  I  don't  know 
why  I  feel  it,  but — sometimes  I  feel  that  I've  been — 
I've  been  flung  at  your  head." 

He  opened  his  mouth  in  astonishment.  "  Flung  at 
my  head !  " 

She  held  up  her  ringer.  "  And  if  I  thought  you 
could  ever  believe  it !  " 

"  Is  a  girl  flung  at  a  man's  head  when  her  father 
carries  her  thousands  of  miles  away  and  the  man  fol 
lows  her  all  these  miles,  and  at  last " 

Her  eyes  were  shining.     "And  you  really  came  to 

Greece — on  purpose  to — to " 

*  *  #  #  -x-  * 

"  Confess  you  knew  it  all  the  time  !     Confess  !  " 
The     answer    was   muffled.     "  Well,  sometimes    I 
thought  you  did,  and  at  other  times  I  thought  you — 

didn't." 

*  *  *  *  #  * 

In  a  secluded  cove,  in  which  the  sea-maids  once  had 


ACTIVE  SERVICE.  345 

played,  no  doubt,  Marjory  and  Coleman  sat  in  siK-nrc. 
He  was  below  IKT,  aiul  if  he  looked  at  her  he  had  to 
turn  his  glance  obliquely  upward.  She  was  staring  at 
the  sea  with  woman's  mystic  gaze,  a  gaze  which  men 
at  once  reverence  and  fear  since  it  seems  to  look  into 
the  deep,  simple  heart  of  nature,  and  men  begin  to  feel 
that  their  petty  wisdoms  are  futile  to  control  these 
strange  spirits,  as  wayward  as  nature  and  as  pure  as 
nature,  wild  as  the  play  of  waves,  sometimes  as  unal 
terable  as  the  mountain  amid  the  winds ;  and  to 
measure  them,  man  must  perforce  use  a  mathematical 

formula. 

#  *  *  *  *  * 

He  wished  that  she  would  lay  her  hand  upon  his 
hair.  He  would  be  happy  then.  If  she  would  only, 
of  her  own  will,  touch  his  hair  lightly  with  her 
fingers — if  she  would  do  it  with  an  unconscious  air  it 
would  be  even  better.  It  would  show  him  that  she 
was  thinking  of  him,  even  when  she  did  not  know  she 
was  thinking  of  him. 

Perhaps  he  dared  lay  his  head  softly  against  her  knee. 

Did  he  dare? 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

As  his  head  touched  her  knee,  she  did  not  move. 
She  seemed  to  be  still  gazing  at  the  sea.  Presently 
idly  caressing  fingers  played  in  his  hair  near  the 
forehead.  He  looked  up  suddenly  lifting  his  arms. 
He  breathed  out  a  cry  which  was  laden  with  a  kind  of 
diffident  ferocity.  "  I  haven't  kissed  you  yet— 
THE  END. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


12Jun't 


LD  21A-50m-l2,'60 
(B6221slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


